


Only a Year

by deanxelena



Category: Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Love, Smut, fight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 18:13:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 70,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2398016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanxelena/pseuds/deanxelena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Elena is kidnapped by the Seven Deadly Sins, she is rescued by the Winchesters. When she finds out that Dean only has a year to live, Elena embarks on a mission to save Dean's life, but what happens along the way is anyone's guess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And You Are?

I step out of my red Toyota Corolla onto the hot pavement and with a slam of my door, I sigh. "Senior year. This is not as fulfilling as I thought it was going to be."

Caroline and Bonnie exit my car as I speak.

"Come on Elena, this year is going to be great!" Caroline says optimistically.

"Yeah, we can finally put all of the bad things that happened last year behind us." Bonnie adds.

Sighing again, I give in. "You're right. It's just hard to think of things being normal around here."

"Ladies, are we excited for the first day of senior year?" a familiar voice quips, breaking into our conversation.

"Stefan!" Caroline squeals running into her boyfriend's arms and kissing him.

It was still weird to see Caroline and Stefan together, knowing that he and I were together just last year. But, I'm happy for my friends. I know Stefan isn't the one for me,considering both Stefan and Caroline are vampires. When I'm human, it just works out better thisway.

"New year, new life," I breathe.. "Let's do this."

* * *

By the time the final bell rings, I am more than ready to escape these walls. Caroline and Bonnie are getting a ride from Stefan, leaving my car free and all to myself.

As I put my keys in the ignition, I decide to make my way to The Grill. I place an order to go over the phone on my way there. _Cooking is the last thing that I want to do right now_ _ **.**_

When I get to The Grill and make my way inside, I immediately feel sick to my stomach. The normalcy overwhelms me; people laughing, having fun, relaxing. The pit in my stomach grows, but I get to the counter before I feel like passing out.

As I'm walking back to my car, a sharp pain at the back of my head overwhelms my senses, and then everything goes black.

* * *

As I slowly regain consciousness, I can feel the crick in my neck from where it had fallen forward. I open my eyes, but my vision is foggy, and all I feel is the pain radiating from my skull. I try to raise my hand to check the back of my head for blood, but I realize that my arms and legs are tied to a chair. "Help! Help me!" I cry out before receiving a back-hand to the face.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch." A voice I don't recognize hisses at me.

For a moment I let my head hang, and I slide my tongue over my lip – it's busted. As I raise my head, my vision starts to clear a little, and I look around the room. It looks like some kind of bar, but not one that I've seen before. Directly in front of me is a circle of six people, which surrounds another two, who look terrified.

All of a sudden, the eyes of everyone in the outer circle change to black. A gasp escapes my lips, but no one pays attention to me.

"Man, you _really_ walked into the wrong place," the man in plaid taunts. Suddenly his eyes fall on me, and he asks, "Who the hell is that?"

My eyes grow wide with fear, but I don't dare speak again. I didn't really feel like another swipe across the face."I like her. I think I would rather wear her than this." A blonde woman standing before me gestures to her own body. With a smirk on her face, she says, "She's much prettier."

"I can think of about a thousand things I'd like to do to her." Another man, this one red headed, replies, licking his lips at me.

The only man whose eyes didn't turn black finally speaks up. "You're not gonna lay one filthy finger on her!"

The man in plaid saunters over to him. He holds up a bottle of drain cleaner and lifts it to the other man's face ."Here. On the house."

The woman next to the normal-eyed man, who'd been silent up until now, watches him take the bottle from the plaid-wearing man."Isaac, no," she whimpers.

With no warning, the man called Isaac throws his head back and starts downing the drain cleaner. "Stop!" I scream, in absolute horror at what I'm seeing."Baby, please don't! STOP ISAAC!" The woman is sobbing now, but is being held back by the man with the red hair.

Isaac drains the entire thing; he's starts convulsing violently, causing him to drop the empty bottle. He gags repeatedly, foamy liquid and blood bubbling out of his mouth. The sound of his labored breathing and frothy spittle hitting the floor are the only sounds in the room, before he drops to the floor. The woman that was with him screams in agony.

"Your turn, honey!" The man in plaid squeals in delight, as he turns to her

Before I can blink, a car crashes through the wall, and everyone stumbles back. Through the debris that clouds the air, I see three men get out of the car and immediately start tossing a liquid of some sort onto the six with black eyes. Whatever it is, it's working- they fall back screaming, in pain.

The woman is still calling out for Isaac, who lies dead on the floor in a pool of blood and drain cleaner. One of the three men, and older guy, grabs her and pushes her into the car. The tallest of them is still tossing liquid, while the third is throwing punches at the man in plaid and shoving him into the trunk of the car.

"HELP ME! Please!" I cry out, tears streaming down my face.

The one standing by the trunk looks in my direction, and he looks like he's contemplating whether I'm worth saving I think he decides in my favor, because he moves towards me. It's hard to see his face clearly through the debris that still clouds the air and the tears that cloud my vision."Dean!" The tallest yells after him.

Dean reaches me and, before I can say anything, splashes some of the liquid into my face. I blink and sputter at him, "Are you going to help me or give me a bath?"

A smirk plays on his lips. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife, which he uses to free my arms and legs. "We need to go. Now." His voice is stern and commanding.

I run towards the car and nearly dive into the backseat beside the weeping woman. Dean jumps in the front seat beside the other two, yelling, "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"

The oldest man, the driver, throws the car in reverse and stomps on the gas. As we flips the car around after we've left the building , I looked out the back window to see the destruction. Our captors stood on the edge of the destruction and watched us leave black-eyed and panting.

The car is silent, except for the sobbing of the woman. I take my cue from the three men and keep my questions for later, staying silent while the woman grieves. Eventually, we arrive at an older house. We file inside and I follow them all up a flight of stairs. The woman and the tall one are arguing.

"And I say we're going back – now! I left my husband bloody on the floor," she exclaims.

"I understand that, but we can't go back. How are you gonna kill 'em? Can't shoot 'em. You can't stab 'em. They're not just gonna wait in line to get exorcised!" He responds sharply.

Quietly I speak, "Exorcised? They were demons?"

"The freaky things with the black eyes? Yeah, they're demons.," Dean answers me.

"And not just any demons. Do you have any idea what we're up against?" the old man questions Dean.

"Uh, no, who?"

"The seven deadly sins, live and in the flesh!" he shouts.

Dean grins and says excitedly "What's in the box?!"

Everyone goes silent, except for me – I let out a small laugh before I clear my throat, trying to regain my cool.

"Brad Pitt? Se7en? She gets it." Dean nods in my direction. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Elena… Gilbert. Elena Gilbert," I say, shifting awkwardly.

"Okay Elena Gilbert, I'm Dean Winchester. This is my brother Sam." He says pointing to the tall one who offers me a small smile. "This is Bobby Singer," gesturing to the old man. "And the very upset woman is Tamara."

"So how'd you end up in that bar?" Sam asks.

"Honestly, I don't even know. One minute I'm walking to my car with dinner for my brother and myself, and the next minute I'm waking up tied to a chair. The blonde…demon said she wanted to wear me?" I shudder at the thought.

"That's because we're dealing with the seven deadly sins, you idjits. The customer we've got in the next room is Gluttony. I couldn't figure it out until Isaac…" Bobby's voice trails off.

"I don't give a rat's ass if they're the Three Stooges or the Four Tops! I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them!" Tamara yells.

"We already did it your way. You burst in there half-cocked and look what happened! These demons haven't been topside in half a millennium! We're talking medieval, Dark Ages! We've never faced anything close to this! So we are gonna take a breath...And figure out what our next move is!" Bobby is yelling in Tamara's face.

Seeing her shrink back Bobby adds, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Tamara make their way into another room, leaving me with no choice but to follow.

"So you know who I am, huh?" Gluttony chuckles.

"We do. We're not impressed," Bobby spits out.

"Why are you here? What are you after?" the questions spill out of Sam's mouth.

Gluttony chuckles condescendingly, "We already have what we want. We're out! Thanks to you for opening the Devil's Gate, my kind is everywhere. So me, I'm just celebrating. Having a little fun."

"Fun?" I ask, sick to my stomach.

"Yeah. Fun. See, some people crochet, others golf. Me? I like to see people's insides… on their outside."

"I'm gonna put you down like a dog!" Tamara shrieks taking a step towards Gluttony and striking him across the face.

Gluttony delivers a full on laugh. "Please. You really think you're better than me? Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you, Dean? You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust."

Dean nods in agreement, throwing a wink my way. I glare at him as Gluttony starts to speak again.

"And Elena. All that pride you carry - such a martyr. Always sacrificing yourself for your friends. Too prideful to accept anyone's help." Gluttony's voice taunts me, Hearing the truth in his words, I lower my head. He continues,"My point exactly. And you call us sins. We're not sins, man. We are natural human instinct. And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny... greedy... hungry... violent animals. And you know what? You'll be slaughtered like animals, too. The others – they're coming for me."

"Maybe, but they won't find you. You'll be in hell." Dean says with a straight face. "Someone send this clown packing."

"My pleasure." Tamara reaches for a book and starts to read something in Latin. "Exorcizamus te, Omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica..."

We leave Tamara with Gluttony and walk back to the other room.

Bobby is the first to speak. "I don't think we'll have to worry about hunting them. They're gonna be hunting us."

"Why don't you guys take Tamara and Elena, head for the hills. I'll stay back, slow them down, buy you a little time." Dean suggests.

"You're insane! We're not going to just leave you behind." I exclaim.

"Listen, Lena, I'm gonna call you Lena. You're new here, you don't even kn-" Dean starts but is cut off by Sam.

"Elena's right, Dean. We're not leaving you here. End of story. If we're going down, we're going down together."

The house begins to shake and a gust of wind from out of nowhere blows out the candles. We hear Gluttony scream and Tamara slamming the book shut. She appears in the doorway behind us and says, "Demon's out of the guy."

"And the guy?" Sam asks.

Tamara responds coldly, "He didn't make it."

* * *

Dean is sits on the floor with a row of candles behind him, loading a shotgun. Sam is across the room filling flasks with what I now know is holy water. I glance over to Dean, who happens to be looking at me. We watch each other silently for a moment until the lights begin to flicker. An old radio sparks to life playing an older tune. "Here we go." Dean huffs.

The music is playing faintly until it suddenly stops -one of the demons had possessed Isaacs's corpse, and Tamara can't handle its taunting. She opens the door, breaking the salt line Sam had placed, letting the rest of the sins in.

Dean and I run up the stairs where we end up backed into a bedroom by the blonde woman.

"You must be Lust." Dean observes.

"Baby, I'm whatever you want me to be," Lust coos.

Dean is standing in front of me, a protective arm out to keep me back.

"I could be _her_ if you wanted." Lust adjusts her gaze to me.

"Lady, you're not riding around in her skin." Dean snarls.

"Oh really? Watch me." Lust opens her mouth and a cloud of black smoke exits her body and heads right towards me, the blonde's body crumpling to the ground.

"ELENA!" Dean yells out.

I can feel my jaw crack open, and I can feel the black smoke pouring down my throat, like hot wax. My eyes close and open. I know the demon is inside me, because I can feel an actual presence. I'm still but feel impossibly far from my limbs. My body is not my own. I'm stuck.

"Ooh. I knew I would like her better." Lust looks down at our body, taking in the sight.

"You get out of her right now, you son of a bitch." Dean is visibly more pissed off now.

"Or what? I'm not gonna hurt you – not yet. Not unless you want me to." Lust asks coyly, running our hand along his shoulder.

Dean falls into Lusts embrace and they begin to kiss. I'm screaming to get out, but I can't lie: I'm feeling what my body feels, and what my body feels is amazing. Those perfect soft lips on mine, this perfect body pressed against me.

It feels good. It feels _right._

We're moving backward, lips still locked, until we hit a shower curtain. In one swift move, he flips us around, pulls the shower curtain open, and he plunges our face into the bathtub. Lust screams into the water – holy water. It hurts me just as much as it hurts Lust.

"I'm sorry, Lena." Dean whispers.

Quickly he raises our head out the water and Lust gasps for air. _Dean's trying to keep me alive_. But he only leaves us above water for a moment before shoving us back underwater screaming in agony, then we black out.

I can feel myself wake up. Before I open my eyes, I try to twitch my fingers and toes to see if they're my own again. They are. I breathe deeply in relief as I slowly open my eyes. I take in the room around my and my gaze falls upon Dean sitting in a shabby chair across from me, glass in hand, gaze holding mine. .

_Dean._

"Morning, sunshine. How you feelin'?" Dean asks voice low.

His question brings to mind my physical state and I realize that my head is in absolute agony.I close my eyes again and start to massage my temples. "Like I was run over by a semi. Good god."

"Here, drink this." Dean leans forward, offering the glass, but before I can take it from his hands he splashes some of it on my face.

"Seriously!?" I cry out, wiping some excess water out of my eyes.

"I just needed to double check," Dean laughs as he finally hands me the glass.

Taking it in my hands I drink it quickly. my mouth is as dry as a cotton ball and tastes like…rotten eggs.

"You're gonna have that taste in your mouth for a bit. Sulfur."

I finish downing the water and Dean gets up from his chair. Grabbing the glass, he refills it for me and hands it back. This time I sip it, wanting to make it last.

"Lena, I'm sorry. It's my fault that Lust possessed you. I should've protected you." Dean's solemn face makes my heart hurt. _You did protect me_ _ **.**_

"I'm alive, aren't I? And you're not obligated to protect me, Dean. You don't even know me." The words fall out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Dean reaches out and rests his hand on mine, "Yes, you're alive. That means I can take you back home." He strokes his thumb along the back side of my hand.

"Home?" I mumble.

"Yes, home. This isn't a life you want and I'm definitely not going to just let you walk into it. Not on my watch." Dean's voice is firm.

"I didn't realize it was your choice."

"It isn't, but it's my choice not to let you come with us. I'm taking you home, end of story." Dean removes his hand and stands up making his way towards the door. "Meet me at the car in five."

I slump back into the couch - _I don't want to go back_ _ **.**_ Grumbling to myself, I get off the couch and walk out the door and down the stairs to where Sam, Bobby, and Dean are standing.

"Bobby, that knife – what kind of blade can kill a demon?" Sam asks.

Bobby responds with confusion in his voice, "Yesterday, I would have said there was no such thing."

"I'm just gonna ask it again – who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be, how come a girl can fight better than you?" Dean laughs at his brother.

Sam chuckles "Three demons, Dean. At once."

"Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal." Dean says as he slaps Sam on the shoulder.

"Elena, hey how are you feeling?" Sam asks a smile on his face.

"Better, being possessed is not fun." I offer a small smile in return.

"That's why we have these." Sam and Dean pull top left corner of their shirts down to show a symbol tattooed on their chest.

"What is that?" I inquire taking a step closer to admire the design.

"It's an anti possession symbol. We can't be possessed, obviously." Dean responds proudly.

"I need to get one of those." I mutter under my breath.

Dean verbally scolds me, "Oh no, no, no you don't. You're going _home_ remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I remember."

Sam and Dean say their goodbyes to Bobby; I thank him for his kindness and tell him I hope to see him again.

The three of us make our way to Dean's car, which he fondly calls 'Baby'.

"Where do you wanna go Sammy?" Dean asks his brother as he sits in the driver's seat.

"Uh, I don't know. I was thinking Louisiana maybe." Sam answers settling into the passenger seat. "I was talking to Tamara, and she mentioned this hoodoo priestess outside of Shreveport that might be able to help us out. You know, with your – with your demon deal."

"Demon deal?" my questioning tone makes the brothers realize I'm still here, sitting in the back seat.

"Sam, no hoodoo spell's gonna break this deal, all right? It's a goose chase." Dean responds, his voice void of all emotion.

"Yeah, well, you know what? I've been busting my ass trying to keep you alive, Dean, and you act like you couldn't care less. What, you got some kind of death wish or something?" Sam cried out, tears brimming on his eyes.

"We trap the crossroads demon, trick it, try to welch our way out of the deal in any way? You die. Okay? You die. Those are the terms. There's no way out of it. If you try to find a way, so help me god, _I'm_ gonna stop you."

Sam leans back in his chair stunned, what Dean had just told him rocks him, and me.

Dean is going to die? This man who just saved my life-going to die?

"How long do you have, Dean?" my voice is uneven and shaky at best.

Turning around to face me in the back, he answers, "A year."

 _Only a year?_ "I'm staying." My once shaky voice is strong and determined.

"Excuse me?"

Crossing my arms my gaze locks on his, "You heard me. I'm staying. I'm not going to let you die after you saved my life."

"Are you brain dead or just stupid, Lena?" Dean's voice is escalating and I can tell he's getting irritated with me.

"Oh no, I was listening. You said if either of _you_ tries to weasel out of the deal Sam dies. We'll I'm not one of you, I can help."

Sam looks to me then to Dean, "She's got a point, Dean."

"No she fucking doesn't. She's _not_ coming with us, Sam."

Now it was Sam's turn to be the firm one, "Deal with it, Dean, she's coming. You know why? I don't want to lose my brother."

Dean turns back to face the steering wheel, slamming his head back against the head rest. "Jesus Christ, fine. But you're getting the tattoo. Now."

When Dean throws the car into drive I lean back against the seat.

I'm going to save him. If it's the _last_ thing I do, I'm going to save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is based off of Elena in Season 3 of TVD and Dean in Season 3 of SPN.  
> Obviously some events are altered for the purpose of this story.  
> Some dialogue is taken directly from episodes. I do not own SPN or TVD in any way.


	2. We're Just Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no one is confused Elena is 19 and Dean is 26. Yes I realize that Elena is 18 in S3  
> but sometimes seniors in high school can be 19. I changed Ben's age to more match Dean's,  
> I didn't want Dean/Elena's age gap to be too huge.

The three of us arrive at a tattoo shop in a little po-dunk town outside of Illinois. The jingle of the bell on the door brings out a burly man covered in tattoos, "Can I help you?"

"Uh yeah. Doe Eyes over here needs to get a tattoo." Dean says, winking at me.

I punch him in the arm lightly and step forward, "Yeah, I'd like to get this." I hand him the folded piece of paper in my hands, Sam had drawn up the design in the car.

"Alright, let me make a stencil. I'll be right back." The man disappears into the back of the shop.

I turn around with an annoyed look on my face, "Doe Eyes? Really, Dean?."

"What? They are;, all big, brown, and beautiful."Dean stretches out the sentence for effect.

"Dean if you don't stop I'll punch you myself."Sam says half heartedly.

Throwing his hands up in the air Dean asks "Since when is it a crime to compliment a lady?"

"We don't know Elena that well. Just because she wants to save your life doesn't mean you can say whatever you want." Sam retorts, a scowl tracing his lips.

As Sam finishes his sentence the burly man returns, he looks to me and asks. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I reply.

"Where do you want it?"

"Right on her boob!" Dean calls out from behind me.

I flip my head around shooting a glare at him; it causes a grin to spread across his face.

Turning back to the man I respond, "I'll get it here," pointing to my left shoulder "Right above my collarbone."

The man gestures to the chair and tells me to lay back. I lie back on the chair exhaling. As he begins to set up and the brothers start to talk.

"I think I got something." Dean starts.

Sam asks raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Cicero, Indiana. Man falls on his own power saw."

"That's it? One power saw?

"Well…yeah." Dean replies.

"And you think this is a case?"

"I don't know. Could be."

"Dean, I don't know…" Sam's voice is doubtful.

"Alright there's something better…better in Cicero than just a case." Dean admits.

Sam is looking at him waiting for him to continue speaking.

"Lisa Braeden."

"Who's Lisa Braeden?" I raise my voice so they know I have been listening and want in on the conversation.

Dean looks to me then back to his brother, "Remember that road trip I took, oh gosh, about… seven years ago? You were in Orlando with Dad wrapping up that banshee thing. Well, I kind of spent most of my time in her loft."

"So you want to drive to Cicero to hook up with some random chick? You're a pig." I say with a look of distaste on my face.

"Hey! She was a yoga teacher, it was the bendiest weekend of my life!" He retorts pointing a finger at me.

Dean returns his gaze back to Sam, "Come on, have a heart! It's my dying wish!"

"How many dying wishes are you gonna get, Dean?" Sam mumbles disapprovingly.

"As many as I can squeeze out! Come on. Smile, Sam! God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby girl." Dean chuckles to himself, Sam laughs a little as well.

The humming of the tattoo machine begins as I speak, "Does that make you Pokey?"

* * *

Metallica's 'Fade to Black' softly plays over the purr of the Impala's engine. Sam had dozed off head resting on the window. Dean is thrumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the music. And I am aimlessly playing with the tape that held the bandage over my tattoo. As I sit watching them both I realize I haven't checked my phone since I was taken two days ago. Grabbing it out of my back pocket I proceed to unlock it and check it.

_Missed calls: 27  
Text messages: 142_

"Shit" I mutter under my breath.

Hearing me, Dean quickly glances at me in the rear view mirror before returning his eyes to the road. My fingers tap on the screen typing out a group message to my brother and my friends; letting them know I am okay and I wouldn't be back for awhile, but not to worry. After hitting send I drop my phone into my lap and let out a sigh, which for a second time, causes Dean to look at me. He questions me with his voice low, careful not to wake Sam. "Everything okay?"

Looking at his eyes in the rear view I respond, "Yeah, I just forgot to let everyone back home that I was alive."

"I can just take you-," Dean starts but I cut him off.

"No. I told you, Dean, I'm not going back. I'm going to save you. So, shut up and drive." My voice comes out in a low and commanding tone.

"If you get killed I'm telling." Dean replies sarcastically.

We make our way into a suburban development past a few homes that are still being constructed. We pass a sign that reads 'Morning Hill Homes' followed by another sign that reads 'Sold Out.'  
Pulling up to a nicely kept home, I notice there are festive balloons outside. Dean reaches over and jostles Sam to wake him up, his eyes flutter open and he stretches his arms out. We all exit the car and make our way up to the front door, Dean rings the doorbell.

The door swings open to reveal a woman in her mid twenties, brunette, very fit. _Wow she's gorgeous_. I think to myself. The woman's gaze crosses all of us before landing on Dean, causing a smile to break across her face. "Dean!"

"Lisa. How's it going? Dean's voice rolls out smoothly.

"Wow," she looks Dean up and down "So uh, how long has it been?"

Dean puckers his lips in thought "Seven, going on eight years now. Crazy, right?"

"Yeah! So what are you doing here?" Lisa asks.

"Oh, I was just – I was passing through, and, uh, I couldn't resist. I remember that you _love_ surprises." Dean's mouth twists into a seductive smile.

Lisa chuckles "Yeah. Dean Winchester. Wow. Just... wow. I'm – I'm sorry. You kind of came at a bad time. We're having a party."

"A party? Well, I love parties." He hints the smile still on his lips.

"Of course you do. Come in!" Lisa moves to the side, pulling the door open wider for us to step through.

"Lisa this is my brother, Sam. And this is Elena." Dean gestures to us.

Lisa reaches out to shake Sam's hand then mine. "Girlfriend?" she smiles at me but is directing the question at Dean.

"No, no!" Dean and I both respond at the same time. The overlap in our words causes us to look at each other.

"We're just friends." Dean blurts out.

"Yeah… just friends." Heat rising in my cheeks, I give Lisa a small smile before she leads us into the back yard.

"So who's the party for?" Dean asks her.

"Ben, my son." Lisa replies proudly.

"Oh. You have a-"

"Yep" Lisa motions toward a young boy, wearing a black jacket and dark jeans. "That's him."

The boy opens a gift to reveal a CD. "Yes! AC/DC rules!"

"How old is he?" Sam interjects into the conversation.

"Seven. Could you all excuse me for a minute? Grab some food and drinks please!" Lisa offers before walking over to one of the other moms.

Behind us I hear two women whispering, or rather attempting to whisper. "Did you hear Lisa call him 'Dean'?" The blonde asks the red head.

"Yeah? Why?" The woman with red hair responds, confusion in her voice.

The blonde woman's eyes widen at her obvious lack of 'Dean' knowledge. "You don't know about Dean? _The_ Dean. _Best-night-of-my-life_ Dean?" The other woman shakes her head. "Oh, my god, so, they had this crazy, semi-illegal –" her sentence trails off when she notices that I am staring at her.

"Hi." I raise my hand and wiggle my fingers giving a tiny wave. Sam and Dean look to me, and then to the two women I'm looking at.

"Hello." The blonde responds but not to me because her eyes are locked intently on Dean.

"Hi?" Dean's voice questioning. He quickly smiles at them and then looks back to us, "Cake?"

The three of us make our way with our cake, over to Ben who is standing outside the bounce house eating a piece of cake of his own. "What's up? Ben asks us.

"What's up with you?" Dean retorts.

A woman and her daughter walk by hand in hand, in unison Dean checks out the mom, as Ben checks out the daughter. They both immediately pick up their forks, shoveling a piece of cake in their mouths.

I look to Sam who obviously just saw the same thing that I did, with wide eyes I speak to Ben. "So, it's your birthday, huh?"

"Guilty." Ben replies.

"It's a cool party." Sam offers.

Excitedly Ben responds "Dude, it's so freakin' sweet. And this moon bounce – it's epic."

My eyes flick to Dean, when they reach him I see his eyes are wide, he looks creeped out.

"Yeah. It's pretty awesome." Sam speaks, trying to hold back a laugh.

"You know who else thinks they're awesome? Chicks. It's like hot-chick city out there." Ben beams as he smacks Dean on the chest in a 'bro to bro' gesture. "Look out ladies, here comes trouble!" Ben sets down his cake and chases a girl into the moon bounce.

Dean's eyes are glued to Ben, mine and Sam's are glued to Dean, in hope he figures out what we think is happening. Dean's eyes roll up and his mouth starts to move, like he's doing mental math. I don't know how it's possible but his eyes grow even wider, he flips around and makes his way towards the house, knocking things over as he goes.

Sam and I burst out laughing; only Dean could possibly get someone pregnant as teen and not know about it. I try to regain my composure from all the laughter, people are staring but I don't care; I haven't laughed this much in a long time. Moving toward the nearest empty table I sit down - Sam follows suit, sitting across from me. "So, what are you and Dean exactly?

"I guess the "official" term is hunter. We've been doing this for our whole lives. Well my whole life anyway." Sam replies solemnly.

"How do you do, whatever it is you do, your whole life?"

"Our mom died when I was six months old, she was killed by a demon." His voice trails off his tone low.

"I'm so sorry, Sam." I reach out laying my hand on his arm. "I lost my parents too."

Sam brings his gaze to mine. "I'm sorry…" I give a small nod and ask him to continue.

"Once our mom died, our Dad made it his life's mission to hunt down the demon that killed her. Dean and I were just the extra baggage reminding him of what he lost." Sam pauses before continuing "The demon had plans for me, and my mom got in the way – I think my dad blamed me for death."

Keeping my hand on Sam's arm I ask the obvious, "Blamed? You mean-"

"Yeah he died last year. The demon killed Dad and then we killed the demon, but in the process we opened the Gates of Hell letting out god knows what. Including the Seven Deadly Sins – sorry about that."

"It's alright; I'm actually kind of glad this happened." My eyes wander towards the back door landing on Dean, who looks back at me giving me a thumbs up.

"I think that Ben may not be Dean's. He just gave me a thumbs up, I'm taking that as a good sign." I chuckle looking back to Sam.

Sam smiles and rises from the table. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Grabbing our bags out of the trunk we make our way into the motel room. The biggest downside to motels – the maximum number of beds in a room is two, and because we don't want to spend the money on a second room, one of us is taking the couch. Sam takes the couch, even after I repeatedly tell him that I would, but he won't budge on the subject.

I sit on the bed I've chosen and try to relax. As we all begin to settle in, Dean suggests food. My mouth salivates at the thought; I've only eaten that cake today. Sam volunteers to go, leaving Dean and I alone in the room.

I roll to my side and lean up onto my elbow; I take a moment to look at Dean, I mean really look at him. He's stretched out on the bed, one arm behind his head with his eyes closed. His body is like a work of art – chiseled and tan, his face angelic. But this angel had been obviously touched by tragedy. A bit of wear graced his face but he was otherwise perfect. Of course as I'm studying him he decides to open his eyes, turning his head towards me he meets my gaze. His eyes bore into me, the perfect moss green color overwhelming me. "Like what you see?" his voice low and seductive.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I say rolling onto my back.

"Oh yes you do, Lena. You were totally eye fucking me." Dean raises himself in a sitting position to face me.

Turning my head toward him I respond, "That's the _only_ kind of 'fucking' you'll get from me, Dean Winchester."

"We'll see about that." He smiles, a twinkle in his eye.

I sigh, "Have you always been like this?"

"Like what?"

"A horn-dog."

Dean's mouth twists into a smirk, "Oh baby, if you want it doggy style ju-"

I feel the heat rising in my cheeks again, along with other places, _No. Shake it off Elena._ "Absolutely not Dean. But seriously, have you always been this way?"

"No." he huffs. "Not this bad, anyway."

"Then why are you now?"

"Well, why not be? I'm going to die in a year. Why not live it up while I can?" he questions.

He has a point, but I'm not going to tell him that, "I- I- I don't know. I just feel like your time could be better spent."

"Better spent? I'm already constantly saving other people's bacon. I just want to live a little, before I die...a lot."

My expression softens at that, I know he's just trying to make the best of a bad situation, but he's not going to die, _not on my watch_. "So, is Ben…yours?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Lisa says no, but there's something about that kid."

"He's like a mini you."

Dean's face twists into what I can only discern as pain, "Yeah, he is. But if Lisa says he isn't, then I need to respect that."

"Do you want him to be your son?"

His eyes dart up to mine, emotionless. "This conversation is over." He stands up making his way across the room, toward the door.

Quickly I scramble to my feet and make my way after him, reaching out I grab his arm. "Dean…"

He shakes my arm off roughly; his voice even, "Don't. Just don't Elena."

_Elena._

"Dean, I'm sorry." My voice comes out small and weak.

"I said _don't._ " He erupts full of anger.

"I just want you to be happy, Dean. Maybe you could ask Lisa for a paternity test."

Dean turns his body around to face me, "God damn it, Elena. No! Just fucking drop it." He moves towards the door again.

As tears well up in my eyes I grab my phone and a room key, also making my way toward the door. "Don't worry, I'll leave. You stay." Brushing past him I open the door, stepping into the sunlight I walk away from the motel, Dean watching as I go.

* * *

I keep walking for what seems like hours, until I reach a park. Stepping onto the grass gives my feet a reprieve from the hard concrete. I look around the park; I see children playing, having fun, but on a bench out of the corner of my eye I see a little dark haired boy sitting alone and I make my way over to him.

As I'm walking up to him, he looks up meeting my gaze. "Hey Ben." I say smiling at him.

"Hey. You were at my party." Ben states.

"Yeah, I was. I'm Elena." Glancing over at Ben I notice he is looking down, an empty leather game case in his hands. "Is everything okay?" I hear kids laughing and I look up to see a group of boys playing with a hand held game. "Is that your game they're playing with?"

Ben's voice is quiet, "Ryan Humphrey borrowed it, and now he won't give it back."

"Do you want me to go-"I start to offer to help but Ben cuts me off.

"No! Don't go over there! Only bitches send a grown-up, especially one that's a girl. And I am _not_ a bitch"

I tilt my head to the side in thought, "Good point." Quickly I come up with an idea leaning over to Ben I whisper in his ear. When I'm finished I sit back and nod, he nods in return, getting up he leaves me behind and walks to the group of boys.

I watch the scene unfold, I can't hear what's happening but I see it. Before I know it Ben is kicking the boy with his game right in the balls and behind me I hear an 'Oh!' Turning my head around I see Dean standing behind me.

"What are you doing here?" My voice comes out harshly.

"I can't just let you leave like that, even if we did fight." Dean responds in the same tone as my own.

Ben is running back to us with a giant grin on his face, "Elena, that was awesome!" He says as he plops back down next to me on the bench. Looking behind him he sees Dean. "Hey, Dean."

"Hey dude." Dean ruffles Ben's hair. I can see the affection in his touch but Dean sees me watching and recoils his hand, stuffing it in his pocket.

Lisa is walking towards us clearly mad, "Benjamin. Isaac. Braeden! What's gotten into you?"

"He stole my game." Ben replies defensively.

Lisa is yelling now. "So you kick him? Since when-"

I stand and take a step towards her, "Lisa, I'm sorry. This is my fault. They took his game and refused to give it back."

Lisa's eyes are filled with anger, "Who asked you to help? Ben can handle himself."

Dean jumps into the conversation from where he stands. "Come on Lisa, Lena was just trying to help. Relax."

She looks at Dean, "Relax? What are you even still doing here? You don't know me." Then she looks to me, "And _you_ have no business with my son. Just leave us alone."

Lisa grabs Ben by the hand and starts to walk off, but Ben pulls out of her grip and makes a break toward me. Reaching me he wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me. "Thanks." He whispers before letting go and running back to his mother.

"Well, that was awkward." Dean quips looking at me.

I lower myself back onto the bench, "I just wanted to help. He just looked so much like you, but sad. I wanted him to smile." I run my hands through my hair, leaning backward I let my hair flow freely over the back on the bench and look up to the sky. Dean makes his way around and places himself next to me, leaning back resting his head on the back of the bench in the same fashion as me, eyes to the sky.

We sit in silence for a moment before he speaks. "It's weird you know, life. Lisa has a house and a kid – who is probably mine, but it's not _my_ life. Never will be. With everything that's happened recently you start to think, you know? I'm gonna be gone one day, and what am I leaving behind besides a car." Dean pauses; I turn my head to look at him and what comes into my view are tears welling in his eyes. "Ben's a great kid, I would have been proud to be his dad." He pushes the tears back and sits up.

My eyes search his face and I realize how vulnerable he really is, he's opening himself up to me in ways I never expected. Before I can stop myself my body is moving forward, placing a long kiss on his cheek. As I'm pulling back he turns his head to me, a look of semi shock on his face. "What was that for?"

A genuine smile plays on my lips, "You're a good man, Dean Winchester; a good man who deserves happiness." Lifting myself off the bench I stand in front of him extending my hand. "Let's go."

With a smile Dean takes my hand and follows, we take a few steps with our hands still intertwined; it didn't feel forced, it felt natural. Raising my eyes to Dean, I realize he's looking at me too; he gives me a small smile before letting my hand go. The spaces in between my fingers now feel empty and a hint of sadness hits me, but once we reach the Impala I realize – this is my new home and I'd do anything to protect it.


	3. Home is Where the Heart is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not everything is the same way that it is in either show. Remember that going in.

We're traveling down a dark, quiet road; the sound of the Impala's engine can barely be heard over Sam and Dean arguing in the front seat.

"Because _Demon_ , that's why! I mean the second you find out this Ruby chick is a Demon you go for the holy water! You don't chat!" Dean screams.

Sam is visibly calmer than his brother, "No one was _chatting_ , Dean."

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't you send her ass back to Hell?"

"Because... because she said that she might be able to help us." Sam responded, shrinking back into his seat.

"Help us how, Sam?" I asked, raising my voice from the back seat. Sam pauses and doesn't respond.

Dean turns at his brothers silence and gives him an angry glare. "No really, Sam. How? How could she possibly help us?"

"She said she could help save Dean didn't she?" I asked. My voice was low but loud enough for Sam and Dean to hear.

"What is wrong with you?" Dean's voice strained with emotion. "She's lying, you gotta know that, don't you? She knows what your weakness is – it's me."

"I've been with you two for a few weeks now and I haven't asked - but I need to know Dean. Why do you only have a year to live?" My focus now solely on the older brother.

Dean raises his eyes to the rearview to meet mine.

-

" _Sam, look out!" Dean yells and picks up his pace, but it's too late, Jake has already stabbed the knife right through Sam's back._

" _Noooo!  
Jake turned and twisted the knife, leaving Sam bloody and falling to his knees gasping for air. Jake ran off into the woods with Bobby chasing after him. Dean fell to the ground in front of his little brother. He grabbed at Sam's clothing, trying to keep him conscious, but Sam fell forward onto Dean's shoulder._

" _Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sam. Sam! Hey! Hey, hey. Come here. Let me look at you," Dean placed his hand on Sam's back, but when he lifted back up it was covered in blood. "Hey, look at me. It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy? Sam! Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new. Huh? I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take good care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother?"_

_Dean lightly touches his brothers face, "Sam? Sam! Sam! Sammy!" Sam's eyes slowly shut and his body slumped forward onto Dean's._

" _No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, God. Oh, God. SAM!"_

_-_

"So, I sold my soul to a cross roads demon. She gave me a year in exchange for bringing Sam back to life." Dean finished his story, almost nonchalantly, bringing his eyes back to the road.

Sam turns to look at me as if to say - _now you see what I deal with._

"Dean, are you insane?" I question.

"Craziest son-ova-bitch you'll ever meet." He answers as he exits off the freeway.

We're in Virginia.

Realizing that we just entered my home state, I sat up in my seat and leaned forward to hiss, "Dean, why the hell are we in Virginia?"

"Well my dear, dear, Lena as much as I'd like to drop your ass at your home, you're obviously not going anywhere. There just so happens to be a case in your home town. There's what they're calling a _'Hybrid'_ running around. Half vampire, half werewolf."

"Klaus." His name barely a whisper on my lips, but both of them catch it.

"You know this guy?" Sam asks.

I feel a crease forming on my forehead, "It's complicated."

Dean raises his eyebrows and looks to Sam, "Oh this is going to be good."

I shoot a glare in his direction before telling them everything – how I'm a doppelganger, Klaus killing my aunt Jenna, how he needs my blood to create more hybrids, and most importantly how he thinks I'm dead.

"You're a doppelganger? Wow, I've read about them. It's actually cool to be friends with one." Sam marveled.

I giggle at his excitement, "Thanks Sam."

"So you run with vampires and werewolves, that's just _awesome_." Dean snorts.

"They're not all killers, Dean." I snap at him.

"They're all monsters. That's all I need to know." Dean said as he pulls baby into a parking lot. He turns around to look at me, "You need to learn to handle a gun, let's go."

* * *

Sam and I wait by the entrance while Dean runs to the counter and gets extra bullets, since they already have guns of their own. He makes his way towards the door entering the firing range and we follow.

Dean hands Sam some bullets and he makes his way into a stall then Dean motions for me to follow him. Once in our own stall he goes over instructions.  
"You'll need to put all the bullets into the clip, its good practice because I'm sure as hell not going to do it for you." He winks and I roll my eyes.

He demonstrates how to push the bullet down into the clip before handing it off to me. I mimic his actions with a little struggle but I manage to load every bullet. Dean takes the clip from my hands and loads the gun, then proceeds to hand it back to me.

"First things first, never point at me or Sam." Dean says condescendingly.

Placing my free hand on my hip I retort, "Damn. I was planning on aiming this straight at your dick."

His eyes bug out of his head, "You wouldn't."

"Keep testing me Dean Winchester and you'll find out."

Dean takes delicate steps to make his way behind me. His body presses up against mine, I can feel heat radiating off of him. My cheeks flush red, _I'm really glad he can't see my face right now_.

"Use your dominant hand to hold the gun." I raise the gun in my right hand; he cups his hand around mine. "Use your non dominant hand to steady the gun." Gently Dean grabs my left hand and lifts it to the other side of the gun. He is completely wrapped around me, his hands over mine; the heat coming off our bodies collides against the cool metal of the guns base.

"You'll want your feet about shoulder width apart, the foot opposite of your non dominant hand a little forward." Using his foot, Dean nudges my legs a little farther apart and my left forward a tiny bit forward. I can feel the heat of his breath in my ear, "Perfect."

Not even a moment later Sam pops his head into our stall. "Elena did you kill Dean or -" he cuts his sentence short when he sees us. Dean peels himself from me taking a step back from me, his gaze on the ground. I quickly place the gun on the counter and smile an uncomfortable smile at Sam.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!" Sam yells as he scrambles back to his own stall.

I look at Dean but he's still looking at the floor, so I reach for the gun and ask, "What's next?"

Dean raises his eyes to mine; he shakes off his uncomfortable demeanor and steps beside me. I place my body back into the form we were in not minutes before, minus the warmth of Dean.

"Looking good, Lena. Here, you need to wear these in here." He hands me a pair of ear plugs, and some safety glasses. I pop the glasses over the bridge of my nose, place the ear plugs in my ears and return to my position.

"Keep you breathing controlled. Place your finger over the trigger." He says. I follow his instructions and try to keep my breathing even; I feather my index finger over the trigger. "Once you actually pull the trigger, do not drop your posture. Be still, be prepared for the next target, release the trigger after you've taken a breath and are prepared for your next shot."

Sucking in one more breath I squeeze the trigger and the boom of the bullet leaving the chamber rings out, I release the trigger, breathe and fire again, repeating until I have used the entire clip. Placing the gun on the counter I remove my ear plugs and look to Dean who is looking at my target.

"Not too bad, a few right around the heart, definitely a head shot in there. Nice job." Dean beams.

"I had some training from my guardian Alaric before he…" My voice lowers at the memory of my lost father figure.

Dean places his hand on my shoulder with care and offers me a small smile. "Let's go kill this hybrid son-of-a-bitch."

* * *

Mystic Falls - the place I once called home but that all seems like a distant memory now, the life I once led here was gone. As Dean places the Impala in a parked position I feel like I am glued to my seat unable to move. I don't want to be here.

"Elena are you alright?" Sam asked, his face and voice full of concern.

"Yeah." My voice cracks when I respond and I clear my throat. "Let's just get this over with."

We exit the car and make our way to the front door, I'm not entirely sure whether I should knock or whether I can just go right in. With a little hesitation I raise my hand and knock on the door.

"Coming!" I hear a voice call from inside. The lock disengages and the door opens, _Jeremy_. My brother's voice overwhelms me, bringing tears to my eyes. _"Elena?"_

"Hey Jer."

"Oh my god." Jeremy pulls me into a strong embrace and I hug him back just as fiercely. When he loosens his grip, he places his hands around my arms as if he is determined not to let me go. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Honestly you wouldn't believe me if I told you." I chuckle.

Jeremy looks behind me, his eyes growing with concern, "Who are you?"

"I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean." Sam responds with a calming tone.

"We saved your sisters ass. You're welcome." Dean says smugly.

"Dean. Watch it." My words caution him, "Come in guys."

The four of us make our way into the kitchen and sit around the table. Jeremy gives me an update on everything that has been happening in Mystic Falls and I tell him as little as possible about what I have been up to.

Jeremy lays into Sam and Dean with questions. "So you're here to kill Klaus?"

"Yep." Dean says popping the 'p'. "That's the plan."

"And how do you plan on doing that, when the strongest witch we know couldn't even take him down?"

Dean laughs, "Well don't work with a witch, that's probably why you failed. You need some good old fashioned nose-to-the-ground work to be done."

Sam, always the level headed one, spoke up, "Look Jeremy, my brother and I have been doing this a long time. Anything you can name we've probably already killed. So just tell us what you know about Klaus."

Before any of us can respond to him the doorbell rings.

"Who's that?" I ask Jeremy. Sam and Dean both pull out their guns, cocking them, ready for anything as always. I snap my head at the two, "Put the guns away this isn't the Alamo!"

"Elena that could be Klaus. We need to protect you." Dean whispers at me.

"It's not Klaus. I texted Damon and Stefan." Jeremy yells back to us as he makes his way to the door.

My heart stops, my skin goes cold and pale, _The Salvatore brothers. Damon._

Dean sees the look on my face, lowering his gun he puts his hand on my back, rubbing in small circles. "Hey. What's wrong?"

I open my mouth to speak but before I can Damon and Stefan are making their way to us.

"What the hell are we doing here little Gilbert?" Damon asks. He rests his gaze on me and stops, "Elena…"

"Elena, you're okay!" Stefan makes his way toward me and hugs me.

"Yeah I'm okay Stefan."

Damon seems frozen in his place, like he is looking at a ghost.

"Hi Damon." My voice is soft.

"Hi." He breathes. "Y-you're here."

"I'm here."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes to kill Klaus." Dean answers for me.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking to you." Damon responded with venom in his voice and took a step toward Dean.

Dean mimicked him competitively. "I'm pretty sure I don't care. Tell us everything you know about how to kill Klaus and we will be on our way." he motions to Sam and I.

"You think you're taking Elena again? Over my dead body." Damon snapped.

A smirk plays on Dean's lips, "That can easily be arranged. I know you're a vampire and I know how to kill you."

Damon rushes at Dean and in the blink of an eye he has him against the wall by the neck. "Oh you know I'm a vampire? Good for you."

'DAMON! Stop!" I run to them, using all my strength I try and rip his hand from Dean's throat, he doesn't flinch. Dean is keeping a straight face but I can tell he's struggling to breathe. "Damon let him go _now_."

He turns his head to me, his ice blue eyes piercing into me. He quickly removes his hand, Dean leans over coughing, trying to catch his breath. I whisper in his ear and ask if he's okay, he nods. I return my gaze to Damon, "What the hell Damon, they didn't take me, they saved my life. I chose to stay with them, it was my choice."

"Haven't you realized yet Elena? Your choices _suck!_ " He spits out.

"Good thing I didn't ask you, or have you around to dictate my choices this time. Something you're great at." The words roll off my tongue before I can stop them. They cause him to stop, the look of pain in his eyes suddenly hurting my heart, "Damon, I'm sorry."

He holds up his hand to stop me from saying anything else, "I've got it Elena. You no longer need us." Damon motions to himself and Stefan. "You found the new and improved versions of us."

"Damon it's not like that."

"Isn't it Elena? Trading one set of brothers for another. _Bravo._ "

"You don't know what you're talking about. So I would suggest shutting your fucking mouth." Dean interjects.

"Are we really about to do this again?" Damon laughs.

"Enough!" I cry out, tears streaming down my face. "I'm so done with all of you right now. All this testosterone is making my want to gouge my eyes out. We all need to work together if we are going to stop Klaus, so no killing each other." I look to Damon and then to Dean. "I'm serious. Stefan, Sam, keep them in separate corners please." The two youngest brothers nod, "Now, let's talk about what we know."

* * *

The Impala increases in speed as we make our way down the road. Sam had gone with the others so it was just Dean and I; this was the first time I had sat shotgun. One hand on the steering wheel, the other arm resting on the door against the window, he seemed relaxed but I could tell he wasn't. The tension in his face was obvious. I continued to study him he begins to gnaw on his bottom lip.

"Dean, this is a stupid plan." I finally say.

He looks to me his expression blank, "What else should we do?"

"So you're just going to sacrifice yourself again?"

"I don't know what you want me to say." His voice is emotionless.

My voice begins to rise, "That you mean something! That you matter!"

"Yeah to who?"

"Sam, Bobby," my voice trails off but I choose to continue, _"Me..."_

Even though his eyes are on me, the car doesn't veer. "I'm doing this Lena, it's a part of the job, you're gonna have to deal with it." He returns his eyes to the road and we continue the trip in silence.

_Deal with it my ass._

* * *

There is a growing pit in my stomach as I make my way up the front stairs. I raise my hand, knock on the front door and wait. The door creaks as it swings inward and a familiar face greets me, 'Well isn't this a plot twist."

"Klaus." I say keeping it short and sweet.

"This certainly explains why I can't create any hybrids, you're alive." He retorts, his accent ringing in my ears.

My eyes narrow, "I couldn't let you have everything you wanted. You're a hybrid, but now you're completely alone."

I can see the rage growing in his eyes, he takes a step towards me and grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls downward. I yelp in pain but he doesn't let go, he just uses my hair to drag me inside. "You and I are going to have a little chat before I kill you."

"What could you possibly want to talk about?" I question like a smart ass through my grit teeth, pain is thumping through my scalp.

"How did you do it?"

"How did I do what?"

"How are you alive you little fucking twit." Klaus uses the hand that is wrapped in my hair to throw me to the ground face first. I land with a thud but before I can get myself up he is on top of my flipping me over. His hand finds its way to my throat, "How are you _alive_?"

"Elijah." I manage to gasp out.

"Elijah, always th-" Klaus is cut off; the ringing of shots being fired invades my ear drums. Blood is seeping through his shirt; he lifts his hand from my throat and rises off of me. I scramble to my feet and back up against the wall. Dean had refused to give me a gun going into this and now I am regretting letting him win that argument.

I look over to Klaus who is standing face to face with Sam and Dean. Klaus reaches into one of the gunshot wounds and fishes out the bullet. "Wooden bullets? Do you think that is going to stop me?"

Dean smiles one of his tell-tale smiles, "No but it will sure as hell slow you down."

Sam raises his gun and fires three more rounds into Klaus' chest, "Those are laced with vervain. A nice trick we picked up from the Salvatore's."

Klaus shakes his head laughing, "Stefan and Damon, will they ever learn?" He returns his sight on Sam and Dean. 'But you two, you're new. To what do I owe the pleasure of the bullets in my chest?"

"We heard about the hybrid trying to create a master race. Figured we should probably take you down before that happens." Dean answers him with humor in his voice.

Sam's hand disappears his back pulling a knife out from the waist of his jeans. He takes the opportunity and lunges towards Klaus, knife in hand. He connects with his side making a clean cut front to back causing Klaus to scream out in pain. Klaus'eyes shift and he is in full vampire mode, grabbing Sam by the neck he flings him almost effortlessly into the wall knocking him out cold.

"Sam!" Dean yells out. He pops off a few more rounds into Klaus and before I can comprehend what is happening Klaus is face to face with Dean. He has Dean's gun in his hand and it's point blank on his chest.

"Let's see how you like being shot in the chest, mate." Klaus mocks him then pulls the trigger. The world comes to a standstill as I watch Dean crumple to the floor.

"Dean!"

* * *


	4. More Than I Care to Admit

"Let's see how you like being shot in the chest, mate." Klaus mocks before pulling the trigger. The world came to a standstill as I watched Dean crumple to the floor.

"Dean!"

Dean's body hit the ground with a sickening thud; everything was going in slow motion. I ran and fell to my knees beside him, lifting his head to place on my lap. I lowered my head to his chest to listen for a heartbeat. _He's still alive._

"Stefan! Damon! _Now_!" I scream out at the top of my lungs.

"Oh the Salvatore brothers are here. I'm quaking in my very expensive boots." Klaus mocked.

As his sentence came to an end, a crossbow bolt pierced through the air and into his chest. Klaus cursed out in rage and pain - flipping around to see who had shot him.

Jeremy stood in the middle of Stefan and Damon, crossbow in hand still poised to fire. "Dick."

"Are you all that determined to be slaughtered?" Klaus growled before he ripped the bolt from his chest and took a large step toward them, "Because that is where you are headed."

Damon brings into view the hand that was hidden behind his back, wielding the White Oak Stake. Klaus' eyes grew wide, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Oh, but we would." Damon chuckles, twirling the stake in his hand.

Jeremy fires another bolt at Klaus but he catches it, breaking it in two. Stefan pulls out a gun and pops off a few rounds into Klaus' chest taking a few steps toward him. I see Dean's gun in front of me and grab it. Taking what Dean had taught me, I fire a few rounds as well. Klaus drops to his knees trying desperately to shake it off.

With both Stefan and I firing shots, Damon takes this opportunity to lunge at Klaus, driving the White Oak Stake right into his heart. We all freeze, Damon stumbles backward leaving the stake in the hybrid's chest.

Klaus looked down, his facial expression clouded with fear - his skin begins to grey, veins growing up his face, and before we can blink he bursts into flames. Stefan and Damon jump back from the flames, Klaus' screams of agony ring in our ears before he falls to the floor – dead.

We're silent; the only sound invading our senses is the fire dying out. I hear a moan coming from Sam's direction; I look down at Dean and speak with my eyes still locked on him, "He's not going to last much longer, he needs help."

* * *

The room is quiet; the sound of the flames dancing across the fire wood is the only thing keeping me focused. I rip my gaze away from the fire and focus on Dean who is on a make shift hospital style bed in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house. I never noticed until now how much time I have spent over the last few weeks studying his face. His features soft, angelic, highlighted by the light of the fire, the tiny scar on his cheek, the darkness of the circles under his eyes and the wrinkles that were starting to form on the sides of them. All of those things, although not considered beautiful in the eyes of many, made him all the more so.

_We all gathered around my kitchen table laying out the plan to kill Klaus; Damon had retrieved the White Oak Stake from the boarding house._

" _Sam and I will distract him and get him focused on us so Stefan, Damon, and Jeremy can take him out." Dean stated to the group._

" _Dean - he is the Original Hybrid, you and Sam are human. He could take you out in a millisecond." I protest to no obvious avail._

" _We can give you vervain laced wooden bullets. They won't kill him but it will sure as hell slow him down." Stefan says handing Sam a plastic bag filled with bullets._

_Sam takes the bag and starts to load the gun, "Thanks." Stefan responds with a nod._

_I take the gun from Sam's hand and place it on the table, grabbing him by the arm I make him face me, "Sam this plan is seriously stupid. Please, don't do this." I practically beg._

_He gently takes my hands into his, rubbing his thumbs over the tops of mine, "Elena, this is what we do. We will be okay. I promise." He pulls me into a hug and kisses me on the head._

" _Get a room." Dean spits out._

" _Someone's jealous." Damon sings out._

_Sam and I break our embrace but Dean keeps his eyes locked on us. "Shut the fuck up and let's get back to work."_

Under my intense scrutiny I notice movement behind his eye lids; I rise from my chair and pull it closer to his bedside. I return my butt to its spot and rest my forearms on the side bars of the bed, "Dean?"

His eyes slowly begin to flutter, opening wider each time. When he finally opens them all the way he gently turns his head in my direction and croaks out, "Elena..."

"Hey, how do you feel?" I ask him softly.

Dean raises his hand to his head and gently massages his temples, "Like shit. What the hell happened?"

"Klaus shot you in the chest; luckily the bullet went straight through."

As I'm explaining Dean moves his hand to the collar of his shirt pulling it downward and he raises his eyes to mine, "There's no bullet wound?"

"Well… we gave you some of Stefan's blood, vampire blood heals." I whisper bracing myself for the explosion.

He releases his collar and rests his head back against the pillow once more, "Hmm. Maybe we should ask them if we can take some for the road."

My eyes grow wide and I shake my head in disbelief, "Wait, what? You're not mad?"

He turns to me, "Why would I be? I would rather drink that nasty crap then be laid up for weeks or months."

"We just need to be careful, if you die with it in your system you turn into a vampire." I caution him.

"Yeah well maybe Hell won't want me if I'm already dead."

Reaching out I rest my hand gently on his face, "Don't say that." I tell him sternly.

"Gentle touches and rough talk, Lena you're my dream girl." Dean says wiggling his eyebrows.

"Just because you think that your voice can make girls orgasm on command doesn't mean it's true." I laugh and begin to pull my hand away.

Quickly he brings his own hand to cover mine, keeping it on his face. He closes his eyes and nuzzles his cheek into my palm and quietly mutters, "I'm sorry."

My breathing hitches at the gesture, "What are you sorry for?"

"That was a dumb plan."

"Yes, it was, but you're alive, Klaus is dead and that's all that matters."

Dean opens his eyes locks his gaze on mine "No it's not all that matters. You trust Sam and me with your life every day just by staying with us."

"I know Dean, and I do trust you. I just – I'm not ready to lose you yet, hell, I just got you." I trace my thumb over his cheek softly.

"You're not going to lose me." Dean's lips meet the side of my palm with a quick kiss. "Not yet anyway." He mumbles under his breath, barely audible but I still hear it.

I can feel my eyebrows furrow, " _Dean_ …" but my thought is interrupted by Dean adjusting his gaze to the doorway.

"Heya Sammy." He says his mouth twisting into a small smile.

I pull my hand from his face, place it back into my lap, glancing over my shoulder I smile at Sam; who is standing in the doorway holding two mugs, looking at me like ' _Did I just walk in on a moment?_ ' I shake my head and he advances towards us.

"How you feelin'?" Sam asks handing his older brother a mug.

Dean graciously accepts it and takes a long sip, "A lot better actually. That vampire blood really heals quickly."

Sam laughs "I thought you'd be pissed that we did that."

"Me too!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, pick on the guy who got shot with his own gun by an Original Hybrid." Dean battles back with a laugh.

I rise from the chair and begin to make my way across the room to the door.

"Where you goin'?" Dean asks adjusting himself to sit more upright.

I stop and turn around, "I'm just going to talk to Stefan and Damon."

A look of disconcertment overcomes Dean's face, "I don't like him." _Him_. Him obviously being Damon.

"It's okay Dean I promise." I tell him with a smile as I exit the room. Once outside I hide around the corner and listen to Sam and Dean talk.

"What's up with you man?" Sam asks pointedly.

"What do you mean " _What's up with me?_ ""

"You've been acting super possessive over Elena ever since we got to Mystic Falls."

"I have not." Dean huffs.

"Uh, yes you have." Sam insists. "You got into a fight with a vampire, which you _didn't_ win and you nearly blew my head off when I hugged her."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I don't know man. I just want to protect her." Dean responds, exasperation lining his words.

"You want to protect everyone Dean that's nothing new."

"I know that Sam but she's…different."

Sam continues to poke the bear, "Different how?"

"God damn it Sam! I don't know okay?"

'You _like_ her." Sam taunts.

"Shut up."

I lean back against the wall sliding down into a crouching position and place my hand over my mouth. _He likes me? No don't be stupid Elena he didn't say it Sam did. But he didn't deny it either._ I'm jarred from my thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Elena what are you doing?" Stefan inquires as he plops down next to me.

I look at him sheepish and embarrassed, shrugging my shoulders, "Eavesdropping."

Stefan cocks his head slightly, "They're talking about you."

"I know."

"Good things at least."

"Tell me!"

"Nope." Stefan says with a playful smile.

"Damn you Salvatore and your vampire hearing." I laugh, nudging his shoulder with mine.

Stefan locks his gaze on me, "You're not staying are you..." It was more of a statement than a question.

"No." I answer softly.

He nods his head in understanding; I rest my head on his shoulder and give a light sigh. "I think it's better for me to start over you know? And honestly Dean needs my help I can't just let him die."

"He's not going to die, I fed him my blood." Stefan responds, his tone quizzical.

"I know not from the gun shot. Long story short, he sold his soul to save Sam and he now has ten months left to live before being dragged off to hell." The words flow out of me like I have said them a thousand times before, but by the look on Stefan's face I can tell that he was certainly taken by surprise.

"Oh… that's new."

"You don't even know the half of it Stef." I sighed, turning to him, "So about your blood."

* * *

The boys were getting our stuff together in the living room, I had gone home while Dean was still unconscious to grab a few things and to say good bye to Jeremy, Caroline, and Bonnie. As I pack up bags of Stefan's blood in the kitchen I hear footsteps approaching behind me.

"You're going to die Elena." Damon says emotionless.

I turn around and place my hands on the counter behind me, "No Damon, I'm not. I'll be alright."

"That is not a risk I'm willing to take." He says taking a step toward me.

I take an equal step toward him, "But I am. It's my life Damon. My choice."

We are only inches away from each other now, Damon strokes my hair. "I can't lose you."

"You won't. I'm not dead. I'm just not going to be here." I tell him my voice full of sincerity.

"There is another way."

"What do you-"

Damon's fangs elongate, his eyes shift and he rips into his wrist; blood begins to flow freely from the wound.

I stumble over myself trying to back away, "Damon no! No! N-" before I can scream any more his wrist is on my mouth and I am choking down his warm coppery blood. I feel like my eyes are bulging out of my head as I stare at him in fear.

He jerks his wrist from my mouth and places his hands on either side of my head, _he's going to kill me_ I internally scream. "Damon, please," I beg as hot tears are streaming down my face, "I don't want to die."

The crack of a gunshot echoes throughout the room and Damon drops to his knees.

"You take your fucking hands off of her." The words come out of Dean's mouth hostile and violent like nothing I have ever heard come out of him before.

I back peddle away from Damon trying to create distance in case he tries again, he is trying to dig the bullet out but Dean doesn't give him any chance. He fires off three more rounds as he steps closer.

"Elena, go over to Sam. _Now_." Dean commands.

I run to Sam and fall into his arms now openly sobbing. Dean still has his gun aimed at Damon.

Stefan runs into the room screeching to a halt when he sees the scene in front of him, "What did you do?"

"He was going to turn her into a vampire." Sam stated keeping his voice even

"How could you, of all people, take that choice away from her?" Stefan yelled at his brother.

"Go ahead; wish me an eternity of misery." Damon chokes out.

"Oh you won't last an eternity." Dean's finger was steady on the trigger.

I break free from Sam, I move placing myself directly behind Dean, "Don't even bother. He's not worth the bullets."

Dean turns his head, his eyes meeting mine and he lowers his gun. Looking back to Damon he lowers himself into a crouching position, "You ever come near Elena again I will _kill you_ do you understand?"

Damon doesn't give any sign of a response he just stares at Dean. "Oh don't feel like talking?" Dean stands up and winds his leg back and without holding back starts to kick him and punch him repeatedly and we all let him, until Damon is bloody on the floor. Dean straightens himself up wiping his blood covered hands on his pants.

"Let's go." We silently file out the room leaving Damon where he lay.

* * *

Stefan and Sam are packing up the car, chatting away about god knows what as Dean and I are grabbing the last few things from the living room. Dean's been mute since he beat Damon, it was beginning to bother me.

"Dean." I catch his attention and he finally looks at me. "Thank you, for protecting me."

He nods and continues to put our things into his bag. I furrow my eyebrows and walk over to him, reaching my hand out I place it under his chin and direct his head to look at me. "Hey. Talk to me."

He stares at me for a moment before responding, "What do you want me to say?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"You didn't do anything."

"Then why the silent treatment?" I ask.

"Because in that moment all I could think was that I was going to lose you and it scared me, more than I care to admit." Dean says keeping his voice low but even.

"Why? What is there to admit Dean?"

He doesn't answer, because he doesn't have to with words. His lips crash into mine, like he is trying to quell this hunger that he has inside. I melt into his touch, running my hands through his hair as he pulls me closer. He runs his hands over my lower back, gripping me as if he was never going to let go, it feels like we are frozen in time, in this one moment, this moment that is solely ours, like a fire burning that couldn't be extinguished by anyone but each other. But just like that it ends; Dean releases me, pulls away, grabs his bag and walks out of the room.

I feel dizzy, like I have no more air left in me. I flip around to watch him leave and I feel like half of my heart is leaving with him.


	5. A Glimpse into the Past

_ _

_Dear Diary,_

_I know - it's been a long time. Things in my life have been crazy to say the least. I left my old life behind to travel and hunt with the Winchester brothers; they saved my life and now I need to save Dean's. I've done some research over the past two months since I've been with them but I haven't found anything solid, and it's frustrating. Anything I've found is something Dean would not approve of, and frankly, I don't want to piss him off._

I stick my pen in my mouth and look up from my diary; Sam and Dean are sitting on the hood of the Impala drinking beers and talking. I smile to myself and return to my writing.

_It's been almost a month since Dean kissed me, and honestly I don't know what to think. Some days he flirts, some days he's distant, and most days he's hitting on anything with boobs. It kind of hurts. But it shouldn't, right? It's not like we're together. It was just one kiss._

Looking up from my pages once more, I see Sam on the phone and Dean trying to listen in on whatever conversation his brother is having.

_I better go. I'll write again soon, I promise._

Slapping my diary shut, I throw my pen in my bag. I lift myself from the soft spot I had found in the grass and make my way towards them. As I'm approaching, Sam slams his phone shut and shoves it into his pocket forcefully, looking to his older brother. "Dad ever tell you he kept a container at a storage place?"

"What?" Dean responds with confusion.

"Outside of Buffalo?"

"No way."

"Yeah. And someone just broke into it." Sam states.

"Man…"

"What?"

Dean stuffs his hands into his pockets and leans back against baby. "Just Dad. You know him and his secrets. Spend all this time with the guy and it's like we barely even know the man."

"Well, we're going to learn something. I didn't know your dad, but I'm sure he had a somewhat decent reason for not telling you guys about it," I say, trying to keep the mood light- but it's immediately apparent that I've failed.

Sam's eyes grow a little wider and Dean looks like he wants to punch something, hard. "Let's go." Sliding off the hood he opens the driver's side door, all but throws himself into the seat, and slams the door behind him. I look to Sam, completely confused. He offers me a sympathetic smile and whispers, "Our dad is a touchy subject."

 _Shit._ "That's just aweso-" Before I can finish my sentence I am cut off by the Impala's horn and Dean raising his arms at us in a 'What's the hold up?' sort of way.

Sam hops off the hood and opens the passenger door but doesn't enter the car. He just watches me as I don't move from where I stand. "Elena?"

I shake off my thoughts, "Yeah, yeah I'm coming." I force my legs to move and enter the back seat with a flop. Baby's engine roars as Dean slams on the gas, making our way to our destination.

* * *

The silent hall echoes with the creak of Sam opening the storage unit door. None of us enter. Instead, we peer inside. There is a symbol painted onto the concrete floor, but it's smeared with a dark red liquid. "What is that?" I question, pointing to it.

"Devil's trap. No demons allowed," Sam responds, before taking a cautious step into the space.

Dean kneels down to get a closer look at the smears. "Blood. Check this out." He holds up a trip wire which leads back to a shotgun hidden in a large animal skull.

"Whatever broke in here got tagged," Sam concedes..

Dean stands up and lightly scoffs, "Dear old Dad."

Taking a step inside, I keep my head down. I'm still examining the blood, and I voice my observations. "We've got two sets of tread here, looks like it was a two person job." Dean nods at me, a look of approval on his face.

We venture further into the unit; it's dust-covered and smells like moth balls. Sam is scanning his eyes over a desk while Dean aims his flashlight at a shelf-browsing his dad's collection, I assume. He reaches forward suddenly, grabbing a trophy and scraping a heavy layer of dust off the shelf in the process. "1995," he murmurs, studying the little bronze figure.

Sam flips around, and grabbing the trophy from his older brother's hands, he blurts, "No way! That's my Division Championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this."

"Yeah, it was probably the closest you ever came to being a boy," Dean snorted. I look at him and slap his shoulder. "Ow!"

"Don't be an ass!" I singsong, as I continue to explore the rest of the shelf.

Dean rubs his shoulder as he wanders to a table in the corner, where he picks up a gun off the table. "Oh wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself. Sixth grade," He boasts proudly, laughing and pumping the shotgun.

I smile at him - it's good to see him happy, even if it's just for a moment. I make my way to a door at the back of the room, and raising my flashlight, I see the chain of the door has been cut. "Guys. Over here." I place my hand over the door knob, slowly turning it. The door disengages and opens slowly. I take a small step in and the guys are right behind me.

"Holy crap. Look at this, your dad had land mines... Which they didn't take," I say, puzzled.

Dean opens the cabinet on the wall, "Or the guns. I guess they knew what they were after, huh?"

On a shelf behind me I see multiple boxes inscribed with unfamiliar symbols. I walk over and lightly run my hand over one. "What are these?"

Sam wanders over and inspects the box, "See these symbols? That's binding magic. These are curse boxes."

I echo Sam, "Curse boxes?"

"They're supposed to keep evil mojo in, right, kinda like the Pandora deal?" Dean interjects.

"Yeah, they're built to contain the power of a cursed object. This must be Dad's toxic waste dump," Sam muses.

I look over the shelf at the rest of the boxes and notice a rectangular shape in the dust, "One box is missing."

Dean shrugs, "Well, maybe they didn't open it."

* * *

The Impala jerks to a stop in an alley outside of a rundown apartment complex, and Dean leans his head out of the window to look at the car across the alley. "Connecticut. Last three digits 880."

I look down at the papers in my lap, "Yep, that's it."

Dean clicks his tongue, "Should've blacked out their plates before they parked in front of a security camera. Let's go."

We exit Baby and make our way to the back entrance of the building, and Sam pulls a black pouch from his pocket and unfolds it. _A lock picking kit._

Sam bends down and starts to pick the lock. With a final click, the lock disengages, and we're in. After jogging our way up three flights of stairs, we quickly find the right apartment. Sam picks the lock once more, and the pop of the lock lets us know we're in. As Sam and Dean pull out their guns and cock them into the ready position, I mutter, "Uh, guys, what about me?"

"Shit, we haven't gotten her her own gun yet," Dean grumbles.

Sam thinks quickly on his feet, "Elena, Dean and I will go in first, you stay behind us. Find the box, grab it, and run back to the car." I huff unhappily but nod my head in agreement. As we make our way in I hear a voice.

"Maybe this thing really works? You know what I'm saying? Ah – I tell you something, there's no way in Hell we are handing it over to that stuck-up bitch now, not after all we've been through. Uh uh. Let's go, huh? Let's get out of here, let's go have some fun."

Sam and Dean bust into the room, guns drawn. I'm right behind them, casing the room looking for the box.

"FREEZE, FREEZE! NOBODY MOVE!" Dean yells.

"Don't move!" Sam growls out.

Frantically, I make my way around the room, searching for the box, praying it is unopened. I see it sitting on an end table and rush over to it.

The two men in the room have their hands up in the air and one speaks, "What is this?"

"SHUT UP!" Sam yells.

Dean forces the man who spoke up against the wall, gun to his chest. "Who are you?"

"Grossman," the man coughs out. "That's Wayne." He nods his head at the man Sam is guarding.

"Are you guys cops?" Wayne asks.

Sam cocks his head slightly, "What?"

This time he screams, obviously panicking, "ARE YOU GUYS COPS?!"

Dean ignores the question completely. "Alright, give us the box. And _please_ tell me that you didn't-"

I lift the box from the table and see the lock has been busted. "Oh, they did." Dean and Sam turn their heads to me as I open the box and show them the emptiness inside.

"What was in the box?" Dean asks, poking his gun harder into Grossman's chest.

Grossman glances to the coffee table in front of the couch where a rabbit's foot lies. We all follow his gaze, "What is that thing?" Dean asks with a bemused look on his face.

Grossman takes this opportunity to knock Dean's gun from his hand. It clatters to the floor, causing it to fire. The bullet ricochets off the radiator and hits Sam's gun, making him drop it. By some miracle the bullet is _still_ going, and ricocheting again, it breaks the lamp next to me. Sam and Grossman both scramble for Sam's fallen gun. Sam reaches it first but Grossman pushes him into Dean, sending him crashing into the coffee table, which in turn launches the rabbit's foot into the air.

The foot skitters across the floor, sliding under a bookshelf. I scramble to the bookshelf and drop to my stomach seeing if I can reach it – I can't, I can barely fit my hand under it. I glance back to Sam and Dean, and see Sam is getting punched in the face by Grossman. Wayne reaches for Dean's gun, aiming it at Sam. Dean rises from the broken pieces of the coffee table and Wayne punches him square under the chin knocking him back to the ground once more. Grossman is now attempting to strangle Sam, Sam is desperately trying to get his own gun, but it is out of his reach. The horror continues to unfold before my eyes, and the only way I can think to stop it is to get this stupid fucking rabbit's foot. Jumping to my feet, I place my hands on either side of the bookshelf, and pushing it as hard as I can, it barely moves. "God damn it!" I scream out, completely frustrated.

"Use your whole body, Lena," Dean groans out, before coughing up blood onto the wooden floor.

 _You can do this. They believe in me. He believes in me._ I place my back against the side of the bookshelf and plant my feet in the ground. Using all the strength and adrenaline I have inside me, I push backwards against wood and it begins to move. I push little by little until I look down and can see the rabbit's foot poking out. Swiftly I reach down and pull it out from its hiding spot, yelling, "I got it!"

Sam reaches his gun, which he uses to pistol whip Grossman right across the face. Grossman releases his stranglehold on Sam, and Sam uses the opportunity to pull his legs up and kick Grossman in the chest, throwing him into a corner.

Wayne appears at my side, and he cocks Dean's gun and aims it straight at my head. He all but spits out, "No, you don't," and he pulls the trigger. I feel as if the world is standing still, I tense up and await my seemingly inevitable fate but all I hear is a click. _The gun jammed._ Wayne panics and tries to clear the chamber, Dean rises from the ground and tries to stop him, but he surprises Wayne, causing him to stumble backward. Wayne trips over a rug and falls back over the couch, knocking himself out. The three of us exchange glances, completely baffled by what is happening. Grossman groans as he stands up, trying to point the gun at me with a clearly shaking hand.

"ELENA!" Dean calls out.

Grossman begins to move, but before he can make any headway, the vase on the shelf behind him suddenly falls off and onto his head, knocking him out cold. Sam's gun flies out of his hand and into mine, I look down shocked. When I raise my head the guys are looking at me the exact same way.

"That was a lucky break!" Dean pauses and looks at the furry object in my hand. "Is that a rabbit's foot?"

I hold it up, dangling by its chain, "Yeah, definitely."

"Huh."

* * *

I'm sitting in the back seat, the rabbit's foot clutched in my fist, fiddling with it between my fingers. Dean gets back into the Impala with a paper bag in his hand, while Sam is in the front seat combing through a journal. "I'm not finding anything in Dad's journal."

Dean reaches back to me, a bunch of scratch cards in his hand. "Dean, seriously?" I whine loudly.

"What?! That was _my_ gun he was aiming at your head, and my gun don't jam. So that was a lucky break. Not to mention they just so happened to take themselves out, also a lucky break. So c'mon, scratch one Lena. Scratch and win!" Dean persists.

I snatch a card out of his hand; he reaches forward to rustle around under the dash, revealing a coin and handing that back to me also. As I scratch the card, Sam speaks, "Dean, it's gotta be cursed somehow. Dad wouldn't have locked it up otherwise."

When I finish scratching the card, I don't even bother handing back to him nicely. I fling it over the back seat into the front and Dean picks it up, inspecting it. "$1,200… you just won $1,200!" he begins to laugh and whoop to himself. "I don't know, Sammy, it doesn't seem that cursed to me!" He turns to me and hands me the entire bag of scratch tickets with what I can only describe as his most charming smile.

I let out an exasperated growl and let my head fall backward, hitting the headrest with a thump. Dean continues to hold the bag out in front of me with a puppy dog face; I raise my head and snatch the bag from his hands – a sour look lining my face. Flipping the bag over, I empty the contents onto my lap, and five more scratch tickets and a chocolate bar appear. Dean attempts to take the chocolate bar off my lap, but I grab it first, "Ahh, ahh!" I say, wiggling my finger at him. I rip the wrapper open and break a few squares off, "For my trouble." I chuckle before popping the chocolate in my mouth.

"Trouble my ass, Gilbert," Dean retorts before grabbing the bar from my hand.

* * *

Dean lays out the six scratch cards on the hood of the Impala, Sam is sitting on a bench a few feet away on the phone with Bobby, and I am leaning against the hood checking my social media on my phone. As I scroll through my feed, I see photos of my friends: happy, smiling, having fun. A small pit forms in my stomach, but I push it away. Something on the ground catches my eye. Clicking the power button on my phone, I slip it into my pocket and walk towards the object I see. _A one hundred dollar bill._ I turn around and hold it up to show Dean, he grins and mouths awesome at me before returning to his self-appointed job of scratch card counting."We're up fifteen grand!" he calls at us, and I smile at him, his enthusiasm contagious.

Sam is not looking too good, which can only mean one thing: bad news. As he snaps his phone shut, I make my way to the bench and sit down next to him.

"What's wrong?" I ask, even though I'm sure I'm not going to like what I hear.

Sam runs his hands through his hair, a sure sign of stress. "The rabbit's foot isn't a good luck charm. It was made by a Baton Rouge conjure woman about a hundred years ago; she made it to kill people."

A deep vertical line forms between my brows, as if someone's just smacked me upside the head and I haven't quite recovered. "Oh..."

"Basically, if you touch it, you own it. You'll get a streak of very good luck. But once you lose, it that luck turns."

"So she won't lose it," Dean chimes in. I'm not entirely sure how long he had been standing there.

Sam sighs, "Everyone loses it, according to Bobby."

"So how do we break the curse then?" I ask anxiously.

"Bobby's looking into it. In the meantime, we need to just lay low."

Dean shrugs. "Or, we can hit Vegas, pull a little Rain Man." He pauses and smiles at me. "You can be Rain Man. Or Woman."

I glower at him in annoyance. "Can we just get some food? I'm starving."

"Yeah, of course!" Sam jumps up from his place on the bench and offers me a hand up. I graciously take it and look around; there's a small diner across the street.

Dean locks Baby and we head across the road, and I slip the rabbit's foot into my purse for safe keeping. Once seated, we order quickly. Dean gets a cheeseburger and fries—as usual—Sam, a club salad, and I order a cup of soup and half a sandwich. While we wait for our food, Sam pulls out his laptop and begins to do some research on the foot.

"Bobby's right. This lore goes way back. Pure hoodoo. You can't just cut off any rabbit's foot; it has to be in a cemetery, under a full moon, on Friday the thirteenth."

"That's just great." I reply, sarcasm dripping from my words. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Getting up from my chair, I sling my purse over my shoulder and make my way to the back of the diner. I place my bag on the counter, and as I'm washing my hands, a woman enters and begins to fix her makeup.

"That's a really lovely top!" She gushes, her accent British.

I smile warmly, "Thank you! I love your accent, it's beautiful."

She laughs, "Thank you, not a lot of people point that out."

"Well, it's lovely." I pick up my purse and exit the bathroom.

Back at the table, Sam and Dean are digging into their meals. I sit down and unwrap my utensils, placing the napkin in my lap. Picking up my spoon, I dip it into my soup, and blow on it lightly before bringing it to my mouth. But before it can reach my lips, my arm knocks into the bowl, spilling it all down the front of my top. "Oh, my god!" I squeal, shoving my chair back from the table.

I jump up and turn around, crashing right into a waiter with a tray full of food, sending the plates flying. My mouth hangs open in shock, the heat from the soup soaking through my shirt and warming my skin. I look to Sam and Dean, whose faces are covered with shock. "How was that good luck?" Dean blurts out.

My eyes go wide and I reach for my purse, but frantically digging through the contents leaves me empty-handed. I dump my bag's contents onto the table. "It's gone. There was a w-woman in the bathroom. She must have taken it." I stammer my eyes rimmed with tears that I'm desperately trying to hold back.

Dean slams his fist down onto the table, and the plates and silverware clatter. "Son of a bitch!"

"We need to go," Sam says, as he starts to help me stuff my things back into my purse. We grab our stuff and rush to the door. As we exit the diner, I catch a glimpse of the woman from the bathroom. She's in a black mustang speeding off down the road. "Come on!" Dean yells out as he begins to run. Sam follows suit, picking up his feet, moving faster. I begin to run but am quickly stopped by a rip at my feet, I look down and my sandal has completely ripped in half. "Seriously?!" I groan.

Sam and Dean stop running and turn around, "Wow, you suck," Dean laughs. I glare at him but don't move.

"So, what now? Your luck turns bad?" Sam asks.

"I guess," I say with a sigh.

Dean jogs back over; turning his back to me, he crouches down a little. "Let's go," he says over his shoulder.

"What?"

Dean looks back at me, a smile slides up his face and settles in. It's a magnetic, no-holds-barred smile, a smile that's fierce and undeniably sexy, a smile that tugs and tingles somewhere deep and low in my belly. "Piggy back ride, Lena! Can't have you walking around with no shoes!"

I can't help but smile back at him; I hop toward him on one foot leaving my broken sandal behind. Placing my hands on his lowered shoulders I push myself off the ground, landing on his back. My arms snake around his neck and my legs wrap around his waist. He links his arms through my legs, locking his hands together in front of him. "Holy crap, do you ever eat?" He jokes turning his head to me.

"Yes, I eat. When it isn't unluckily spilled down the front of my shirt," I grumble.

The brothers laugh and we make our way across the street. Dean is purposefully bouncing harder as he walks, pretending like he's going to drop me, or toss me into the air, making me squeeze my arms tighter around him to keep from falling off.

"Dean, stop!" I shriek out, attempting to control the fit of laughter.

He hitches his body upward again, laughing, "Never!"

"You two are like children!" Sam says with a genuine smile.

Dean chuckles, "Aw, Sammy. Do you want a ride too?"

Sam shakes his head but doesn't respond. Once we've made it back to the Impala, Dean backs his body up to the hood and I ease my hold on him, sliding off his back and landing with a plop. "Easy!" Dean scolds.

"You're the one who said I was light, so hush," I say, waggling my finger in his face.

Sam opens the trunk and pulls out my bag. Once it's in my hands, I open it and begin rummaging through, trying to find a clean shirt. But before I can even comprehend what's happening, my bag topples over, all my belongings falling to the ground. But of course it couldn't be _just_ the ground. It is a puddle. "You have got to be kidding me!" I throw my entire body backward and end up slamming my head onto the hood. "OW!"

Sam and Dean are doubled over in laughter at the sight. "I'm sorry, Elena," Sam manages to choke out in between laughs.

"Laugh it up guys. Hilarious," I grumble, scowling at them. I sit up slowly, not wanting to cause any more harm to myself.

Dean begins to fumble around in the trunk. Once it seems he's satisfied, he walks over to me, handing me a folded up piece of cloth. "This should fit you."

I gently take it from his hands and unfold it. It's a seriously faded, very small Led Zeppelin t-shirt, which definitely doesn't fit him anymore. "Thanks, Dean," I mutter, wondering to myself what the story behind the shirt is.

He shoves his hands in his pockets. "Try not to mess it up too much."

"I'll do my best, but no guarantees," I quip with a smile.

Sam opens the back seat door and peers inside, "Your shoes are back here, at least."

"Thank god." I look down and realize that I can't make it without stepping in the puddle. I look to Dean and smile.

Dean lets out a breath and picks me up, but not just any way, a very special Dean-like way – throwing me over his shoulder. I don't even bother to fight him, I just let it happen. He tosses me into the back seat, but thankfully the seats are squishy and my head bounces lightly off of them, unlike the hood. "I'm going to change, and you two are going to be gentlemen and turn around," I say in my best bossy voice.

"See, give a girl a piggy back ride, your favorite shirt, carry her again, but can't even see her change into the shirt you gave her. What is this world coming to?" Dean's words come out sassy and sarcastic.

_Favorite shirt._

I reach for the door handle and force it shut, Sam and Dean turn their backs to the window like the perfect gentlemen I know that they are. I slip my soup soaked shirt over my head and toss it on the space next to me. I place my arms through Dean's shirt and pull it over my head; it's soft and smells like him – which is perfectly fine with me. Bending over I slip my converse on and lace them up quickly. "What should I do about my clothes?" I ask as I roll the window down.

The boys gaze switches to the pile of wet, mud -clothes lying on the ground. "We'll buy you new ones," they respond in unison.

"Let's go, then. I'd really prefer my luck to not run out completely."

* * *

This time, Grossman's apartment isn't even locked, so we just waltz right on in. I hang back, not wanting to give my luck the opportunity to turn any sourer.

"Oh god, what do you want?" Grossman whines out before taking a swig of the bottle of tequila in his hand.

"Heard about your friend. That's bad luck," Dean points out.

"Fuck off," Grossman spits out.

"We know someone hired you to steal the rabbit's foot. A woman," Sam says, chiming in.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know that?"

"Because she stole it back from us. I want you to tell us her name." Dean's tone is getting more agitated by the second.

Grossman throws us an obnoxious, fake laugh. "Screw you."

I lift my voice from behind them, "It wasn't a freak accident that killed your friend."

"What?"

"It was the rabbit's foot."

Grossman takes another drag from the bottle. "Lady, you're crazy."

Dean takes a step closer to the man, saying, "She's not. You saw what happened, what it did. All the flukes, all the luck. When you lose the foot that luck goes sour. That's what killed your friend. And my friend here is next. And who knows how many more innocent people after that. Now if you don't help us stop this thing that puts those deaths on your head."

The realization slams Grossman back onto his seat and sobers his expression more thoroughly than ten double espressos.

"Now, I can read people ... and I get it. You're a thief, and a scumbag, that's fine. But you're not a killer. Are you?"

"No," Grossman whispers.

* * *

We exit the apartment building and head down a back alley back to the car. I'm the last one out the door, but as it swings shut, the ends of my hair get caught in the crack. I take a step forward before getting yanked back, "OW!" I scream out in pain. Sam rushes back and pulls it open, setting my hair free. I rub my head tenderly as Dean's phone starts to ring; he pulls it out of his pocket and places it on speaker, "Hello?"

"Dean, great news. Wasn't easy, but I found a heavyweight cleansing ritual that should do the trick," Bobby's voice comes out through the phone.

"Bobby, that's uh, great, 'cept Elena, uh...lost the foot."

"She WHAT?!"

"Bobby, Bobby, listen. This chick stole it from her, in her mid 20's, and she was sharp you know, good enough at the con to wait for Elena to be alone before making her move. And she only gave the guy she hired a name, probably an alias or something. Uh, Luigi or something?"

"Lugosi," I grumble, still rubbing my aching head.

"Lugosi? Lugos- Aw crap, it's probably Bela," Bobby mumbles. "Bela Talbot's her real name. Crossed paths with her once or twice."

"Well, she knew about the foot. Is she a Hunter?" Sam interjects.

Bobby scoffs, "Pretty friggin' far from a Hunter, but she knows her way around the territory. Which means seriously bad luck for you."

"Great," I say with a loud sigh. "I don't need more of that."

"Elena, try not to worry." Bobby attempts to soothe me, "If it is Bela, I know some folks who might know where to find her."

"Thank you Bobby."

"Look out for her, ya idjit," Bobby cautions as he hangs up.

My head is now throbbing. _Stupid long hair_. Dean looks to me, "What?"

"My head hurts," I respond with a frown.

He shakes his head at me and continues to walk to the car, and Sam and I follow suit. Dean grabs his keys and unlocks Baby, and starts rummaging around for something in the trunk.

"What are you doing?" Sam asks.

Dean removes his head from the trunk something long and thin in hand. Closing the trunk, he pats it, saying, "C'mere, Lena."

I cock my head slightly, "Why?"

"Just come here, would you?"

Hesitantly I walk to the trunk, and lifting myself up, I sit where Dean's hand had been moments before. He puts his hand on my leg and pushes me lightly so my back is to him. "What are you doing?" I asked, feeling a bit suspicious.

He doesn't respond, but I feel his hand lightly pulling my hair away from face. To my surprise, he starts braiding it into one large plait, his fingers fast and deft. He ties it with whatever he pulled from the trunk, and when he's finished, he gives it a quick tug to secure it into place. "There."

I easily run my hand over the braid; it's tight and feels perfect. I scoot back around to face Dean. "Wow, where'd you learn to braid like that?"

"I used to get bored in the back seat as a kid," he admits. "Long road trips with our Dad didn't leave us with much to do, so I taught myself to braid to keep myself occupied."

"I love it." I smile at him and I can't help but feel it's the most genuine smile I've ever given.

Dean's face explodes into this radiant smile and his green eyes shine, causing my insides to melt. This moment is special and I don't want to let it go. I'm the one that put that look there. But of course it doesn't last, as Sam awkwardly clears his throat and Dean shakes whatever feelings he had, bringing his face back to normal.

For a moment we all sit in silence, until Sam's phone begins to ring. "Hey, Bobby," he answers. He pauses to listen. "Alright, thanks. We owe you one, again." He clicks the power button and closes the phone. "Bobby's got it on pretty good authority that this Bela chick lives in Queens. It'll take me about two hours to get there."

"What do you mean, for _you_ to get there? You're not going after her alone, Sammy," Dean growls.

"Dean, we can't bring Elena. Who knows what could happen along the way?" He looks to me, saying, "No offense."

I shrug my shoulders, "None taken."

"And we can't just leave her alone. So you're going to stay with her." Sam stares at Dean with this look I can't quite read. I turn my head to Dean and watch him nod at his brother, some sort of unspoken communication which I currently find very irritating.

"We need a place then," I remark, and even I can hear the irritation in my tone. "Let's go."

* * *

The Impala pulls into the parking lot of the closest motel we can find. While Dean goes to the front desk to get a room, Sam and I sit in the car alone.

"So, what was that about?" I ask.

Sam turns his head around, meeting my gaze evenly. "What was what about?"

"That look that you two shared when you decided Dean was going to stay with me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam denies, turning his head back to the front.

I lean forward and cross my arms over the seat, "Don't play dumb with me, Winchester."

Sam looks back to me once more and sighs, "Dean doesn't trust your safety with anyone but Dean."

"What do you me-" but before I can finish my thought, Dean opens the front door.

"Got us a room."

Dean slams the door and walks back to the trunk, so Sam and I both get out and help him gather a few things we might need in Sam's absence. Dean hands Sam the keys and lectures him on how 'he better take care of Baby or he will have a serious beat down when he gets back.' Sam nods at the instructions he's seemingly heard plenty of times before, but looks to me so only I can see his eyes roll. I can't hide my grin, and then Sam steps to me and pulls me into a hug,

"I'll be back soon. Try not to hurt yourself, okay?"

I return his hug with the same fierceness, and it's like I have another brother looking after me – it's comforting. "I'll try."

Dean and I watch Sam get into the driver's seat and make his way out. Dean unlocks the door to the room, holding it open for me. "Ladies first."

I take a step but I trip on the door frame, landing face first into the room. "Ow!" I groan from the floor.

"Lena! You okay?" Dean calls out, obviously alarmed.

"Yeah, yeah." I pull my hands to my face to inspect them. "Just a little rug burn on my palms." I pull my hand up to my cheek and wince. "Maybe a cut on my face."

I feel Dean's strong hand snaking its way under my waist, pulling me up to my feet. "Let me look."

The closeness of our bodies and his eyes looking straight into mine cause my cheeks to flush red. "It's fine, Dean, really," I whisper, afraid to disturb so much as the air between us.

"Just let me look. Please." His eyes search mine for approval.

I know a defeat when I see one. "Okay."

He releases me and I move to the edge of the closest bed, and plopping down, I place my hands on my lap, palms up. Dean puts our bags down on the table. He opens one, pulling out a first aid kit. Walking to me, he kneels down in front of me. He takes my hands into his; I can feel my breathing hitch and my heart race just from his touch. I raise my eyes slowly to look at him as he inspects my hands; his eyes are squinted, trying to find some hint of real damage. "It's just a rug burn, Dean," I mutter, feeling a bit stubborn, and maybe wishing just a bit that he'll keep fussing over me.

His gaze meets mine, his mouth in a hard line. He gently drops my hands and he looks at my cheek. He brings a hand up and gently probes around the cut, checking for how serious it is. He reaches for the first aid kit, then pulls out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a few q-tips. Dean wets the q-tip and picks up one of my hands again, pressing it to my skin - I hiss at the contact.

Dean stops and lifts the q-tip. I urge him to continue, "Keep going, it's okay."

He presses down once more and cleans the rest of my palm, repeating the process on the other before moving to my cheek. "So, your favorite shirt, huh?" I try to be sly about asking but being sly isn't exactly my forte.

"I've had that shirt since I was twelve; I got it as a gift from Sam, along with this." He pulls on the leather cord around his neck; at the end is a humanistic being with horns and tribal symbols, dirty-looking gold in color. "Our Dad didn't show up for Christmas, as usual, so Sammy and I exchanged gifts alone. The shirt didn't fit me right for another few years, but I wore it all the time anyway." Dean continues to talk as he grabs bandages from the kit. "Dad was always leaving us to go work on a case. Sometimes he took us along, but most of the time he left us in a skeevy motel with some money for weeks at a time."

Dean finishes putting the last bandage on my hand and begins to work on my face. "One night I left Sam, just for a little bit. I really needed a break, and when I came back there was a Shtriga standing over him."

"Shtriga?"

Dean pulls out two tiny butterfly bandages, unwraps them and begins placing them on my cheek, "It's a creature of Albanian origin. It feeds off of the life force of kids." Once satisfied with his handiwork, he packs the first aid kit back up, tossing it onto the table.

He makes his way back to the bed and lies down on top of the covers. I scoot backward and lay beside him, turning towards him so I can watch his face as he recounts what I can only assume is a less-than-ideal childhood. "I pulled my gun, but didn't shoot. Dad showed up just in time and got rid of it, but I got one hell of an earful. 'Watch out for Sammy.' I knew right then that was what I had to do at all costs. _Watch out for Sammy_."

I gaze at him with admiration, but that admiration is laced with sadness for the life he's lived thus far. "That's a heavy burden to bear. I'm sorry you had to grow up that way," I whisper.

Dean's lips attempt a smile, but his eyes don't bother. "That's just how it is, Lena. How it's always been."

My mouth involuntarily opens into a yawn, but I quickly pull my hand up to cover my exposed mouth.

"Sleep."

"I want to keep talking," I pout.

"We can talk more later."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Dean's responds sincerely.

* * *

My eyes slowly flutter open, taking in the sunlight that's breaking into the room. I'm not sure how long it took for me to fall asleep last night. I try to move but I feel a weight across my waist. Looking down, I realize that Dean's arm is draped across me. I gently turn my head and take in the sight: Dean is nuzzled into my hair, softly snoring, with his arm secured protectively around me.

I let my head fall back to rest on my pillow and smile to myself. I could stay like this forever. Hell, if not forever, just a little bit longer. I lie there for only a moment longer before deciding to get up; I want him to wake up next to me willingly, not because we just happened to fall asleep like that. That's solid logic, right? I shake my head and sigh, quietly slipping from his arms.

I tousle my hair and walk over to the coffee maker. Right as I hit the start button, I hear the door slowly creak open. I turn around to find Sam entering the room with a smile on his face. Seeing me up and about, he reaches into his back pack and pulls out the rabbit's foot. "Look what I got!"

"Oh, thank god!" I sigh in relief.

Dean jostles on the bed, eyes fluttering into consciousness. "Sammy?" His eyes adjust to the object in his brothers' hand. "Nice work."

* * *

I've been to a cemetery during the day to write to my parents, but cemeteries later in the afternoon are a little creepier. I am watching Sam, who's crouching down, sprinkling an ingredient onto the embers of the small fire we started. Dean is leaning against a head stone, looking over some scratch cards that he had Sam do on the way over.

"Alright. Bone ash, cayenne pepper, that should do it," Sam says, dusting his hands onto his jeans.

"One second…" Dean says.

"Dean-"I begin, but he cuts me off.

"Hey, back off, Jinx. I'm trying to bring home the bacon," Dean responds with a smirk, stuffing the cards into his jacket, which is slung over the gravestone. "Say goodbye, wascawy wabbit."

Before Sam can drop the foot into the fire, we hear a gun cock and we turn around in unison.

"Put the foot down, honey," says the woman, who I immediately recognize as the one from the restaurant.

"Bela, I presume," Dean spits out.

Bela cocks her head slightly and smiles, "Pleasure. The foot. Now."

"You're not going to shoot anybody," Dean snaps.

 _Pop._ Bela fires a round at my feet, causing me to jump back, trip, and land on my ass with a thump.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I scream out.

She keeps her voice even, "Put the foot on the ground now."

"Alright, take it easy." Sam begins to lower the rabbit's foot to the ground but instead of dropping it he throws it at Bela. "Think fast."

She catches the foot without thinking. Looking at her hand in shock, all she can say is, "Shit."

"Now, what do you say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead thing?" Dean says with a smile.

Bela walks over and drops the foot into the embers. "Thank you very much. I'm out one and a half million and on the bad side of a very powerful, fairly psychotic buyer."

"Wow, I really don't feel bad about that. Sam?" Dean looks to his brother.

"Nope." He scoffs.

"Lena?"

I cross my arms over my chest, "Not even a little."

"Hmm. Maybe next time I'll hang you out to dry." Bela leans over a gravestone.

"Just go away," I plead with a small whine.

Bela smirks, "Have a nice night." The rabbit's foot continues to burn as she walks away.

Dean grabs his jacket, and we all grab our things and begin to make our way back to the Impala. "I guess we're back to normal now, huh? No good luck or back luck. Oh! I almost forgot—we're up $46,000!" He reaches into the pockets of his jacket, searching for the tickets he had placed there earlier. He stops and looks up at us. Bela's car is roaring in the distance.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Dean yells out in desperation.

Reaching into my bag, I pull out two scratch cards that I had taken from his pile earlier. "At least we have these," I laugh, as I pull them into view.

Sam and Dean both whoop in excitement. "How much?" they ask, almost at the same time.

I look over the cards quickly. "$4,000," I respond, and their faces light up like kids' at Christmas. "Let's go treat ourselves to something nice. Shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Kamidox for the amazing art.


	6. Dont Let Him Get Away

 

My arms were weighed down with clothes as I continue to push through the hangers on the racks. "Dean!"

"Whaaaaat..." Dean whines back from the chair he is sitting on. It's more than obvious that he's bored out of his mind.

"Can you help?" I lift my arms a little and offer a cheesy smile. "Please?"

Dean throws his head back and fake groans but rises anyway. He takes the pile of tagged clothes from my arms into his.

Now I offer a real smile, "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Are we almost done?"

"Almost," I say as I pull a few more things off the rack. "I just need to try these on."

I turn and head to the dressing room, Dean is right behind me.

I hang the few items I have in my hands on the hook in the dressing room then I turn to Dean and grab what he has and hang them on the door. I enter the room and close the door behind me. As I slip his shirt over my head I start talking to him through the door, "You should be happy, I've been washing and wearing the same clothes for more than a week. You can finally get your shirt back."

_Silence._ I open the door and poke my head out into the hallway, "Dean?"

He's nowhere to be seen. I shrugged and closed the door once more to quickly try on the rest of my clothes. Most of what I picked out is pretty plain; I mean they - _we -_ hunt monsters, no point in trying to get really nice clothes. I do keep a two "nicer" tops and a dress... _never know when I may need them_.

The rap of knuckles hit my door, "'Lena." I hear Dean's low voice on the other side.

"What?"

"You need to try these on." He passed a handful of items over the top of the dressing room door.

I look down at them – dress pants, blazers, all professional clothes. "What are these for?"

"Just try them on and show me." I hear his footsteps fading and a loud plop of what I can only assume is him sitting back on the chair.

I slip into the pants with a little jump and fasten the button; pulling on one of the blouses I layer the blazer over it. Once I'm satisfied I open the door and step out, "How do I look?" I ask as I spin, showing off the outfit.

Dean looks to me and gets up from his spot, "Perfect. Now stand against the wall."

"Okay?" I say puzzled but I obey, backing up to the wall.

Dean pulls out a camera from his bag and powers it on. "A lot of the time we pose as different law enforcement agencies and if you're going to be with us you need a few fake badges of your own." He smiles at me, "Also the professional clothes, gotta make it legit." He raises the camera, "Ready?"

I nod but I'm not entirely sure what do with myself - so I smile. Dean looks up at me from behind the camera, "C'mon Lena. Give me some Blue Steel!"

"Some what?"

"Nothing." Dean laughs. He begins to snap some photos. I smile for a few but mostly I keep a straight face. He looks up from the camera and sticks his tongue out at me and I can't help but laugh – _snap_ , he grabs a photo. "I think we have one that could work."

I move away from the plain white wall over to Dean. I frown at the camera. "I look mad."

"It's only for badges, don't worry you're much prettier when you smile." Dean throws out with a wink. My cheeks flush.

"Alright I'm gonna hit the copy store across the street, you go pay, then find Sam, he's at the coffee shop next door." Dean grabs his bag and leaves.

I go back into the dressing room and put my clothes back on. Gathering all of the new clothes I walk back into the main part of the store, heading to the register. I ask the cashier if I can leave the clothes there for a moment so I can grab a few more things, happily she obliges.

I quickly make my way to the section where they keep the underwear; I grab as much as I can in my size, some socks too, and start to thumb through the bras. I pick up mostly plain ones, also a sports bra, _I'll probably need it._ When I do a last once over I see a really nice black lace one, and I can't help but snatch the one in my size and add it to my growing pile in my arms.

One last stop and I can leave – shoes. I pick out a pair of comfortable looking boots, a pair of sandals, and some simple black heels. My arms are heavy and full; _I probably need something to put all this in._ I spot the luggage and grab a dark purple suitcase, _it'll do_. Rolling the case behind me I go back to the counter, clumsily dropping everything in front of the woman with an embarrassed smile. "I think I'm ready."

I leave the store having spent close to a thousand dollars, _lucky I saved those scratch tickets._ Wheeling my suitcase behind me I walk to the coffee shop, once inside I easily spot Sam. I flop heavily down onto the chair across from him; he looks up from his laptop and smiles. His eyes move to the floor where my new suitcase rests, "Dean is going to kill you." He says with a chuckle.

A small frown overcomes my face, "Why?"

"Not a lot of room in the Impala."

I can feel my face scrunching up with concern, "I can take some of it back."

Sam places his hand over my arm gently, "Elena, we can't have you with us and you not have enough stuff to wear. It's okay really."

A sigh escapes my lips but I don't say anything.

"You're still thinking about the other night aren't you?"

I stayed silent but I gave a small nod.

Sam's mouth turns into this dopey frown, "We did what we needed to do."

* * *

_The sounds of crickets filled the air as Sam and I slam the doors of the Impala shut._

" _Are you sure this is going to work?" skepticism lacing my words._

_Sam nodded, crouching down and making a small hole in the dirt. I take in my surroundings, four routes surrounding me, making us in the center of a cross roads._

" _Do you have it?" Sam asks from below me._

" _Yeah." I reach into my back pocket revealing my driver's license. I drop it into the box in Sam's hands and he follows suit._

_He slaps the lid on the box shut, places it in the hole he made and buries it. Rising to a standing position he dusts his hands on his jeans._

_I look up to him, "Now what?"_

_Sam turns his head to look behind him, when he turns all the way around I figure I should do the same. I am met with a woman in a black dress and red eyes. "Well. Little Sammy Winchester. I'm touched. I mean, your brother's been to see me twice, but you?" Her eyes shift from red to more humanized as she turns to me, "You must be Elena Gilbert. I've heard whispers about a girl traveling with the Winchesters. It's a pleasure."_

_I glare at her but say nothing._

" _So what can I do for you two?"_

_Before I can answer Sam draws a gun from his waist band and points it at the Cross Roads Demon. "You can beg for your life." He grits out._

" _We were having such a nice conversation. You just had to go and ruin the mood." The Cross Roads Demon pouts._

" _If I were you I would drop the wise cracks and start acting scared." I remark, finding my voice._

" _Not my style." The Cross Roads Demon sneered, a smile still on her face. She turns to Sam and inspects the gun, "That's not the original Colt. Where did you get that?"_

_Sam keeps the Colt aimed at her and doesn't respond._

" _Ruby. Had to be. She is such a pain in my ass. She'll get what's coming to her."_

" _That's enough!" I shout at the babbling Demon. "We came here to make you an offer."_

_The Cross Roads Demon throws her head back, an obnoxious laugh bubbling from her throat. "You're going to make ME and offer? That's adorable."_

_I take a step toward her, "You can let Dean out of his deal rightnow. He lives. Sam lives. You live. Everyone goes home happy."_

" _Or you stop breathing. Permanently." Sam adds as he cocks the Colt._

_The Cross Roads Demon begins to laugh, "All this tough talk. I have to tell you, it's not very convincing." She turns to look at me, "Especially coming from you. Have you ever even killed a demon? Or any monster for that matter?" She turns to Sam now, "I mean come on Sam. Do you even want to break the deal?"_

" _What do you think?" Sam spits out._

_"I don't know. Aren't you tired of cleaning up Dean's messes?"_ _She takes a step toward us but we don't move. She turns to me and throws out, "Dealing with that broken psyche of his?" and back to Sam she went. "Aren't you tired of being bossed around like a snot-nose little brother? You're stronger than Dean. Better than him even."_

" _Watch your mouth." My voice comes out in a low primal growl._

_The Cross Roads Demon ignores me and continues to hound Sam, "Admit it. You're here, going through the motions. But the truth is you'll be a tiny bit relieved when he's gone."_

_Sam doesn't waver, "Shut up."_

" _No more desperate, sloppy, needy Dean. You can finally be free."_

" _I said shut up!" Sam screams. "I've had enough of your crap. You let Dean out of his deal right now."_

" _Sorry sweetheart, but your brother's an adult. He made that deal of his own free will, fair and square. It's iron clad."_

" _Every deal can be broken." I interject._

" _Not this one." She responds without looking at me._

" _Fine. Then I'll kill you. If you're gone, so's the deal." Sam's face is unreadable._

" _Guess again." The Cross Roads Demon responds in sing song._

_Sam's brow furrows, "What?"_

" _Oh Sam, I'm just a saleswoman. I got a boss like everybody. He holds the contract, not me. He wants Dean's soul, bad. And believe me. He's not going to let it go."_

_His face is immediately overcome with worry even though he's obviously trying to hide that, "'You're bluffing."_

_She cocks her head and smiles, "Am I? Shoot me, if it'll get you off. But the deal still holds, and when Dean's time is up, he's getting dragged into the pit."_

_I reach out and grab her arm, yanking her towards me, "Who's your boss? Who holds the contract?"_

_She looks down at her arm that is covered by my hand, "He's not as cuddly as me, I can tell you that."_

_I tighten my grip, "Who is it."_

" _Can't tell you. Sorry Elena, but there's no way outta this one. Not this time."_

_I feel tears welling in my eyes, I release her arm and look to Sam – he looks broken. He sighs and quickly pulls the trigger shooting the Cross Roads Demon right between the eyes. Her body crumples to the ground with a groan. We look at her for a moment before Sam breaks the silence, "Let's go."_

* * *

I shake the memory from my mind, "I know."

"This needs to stay between us Elena." Sam persists with a serious look on his face.

"What needs to stay between you two?" Dean asks from behind me causing me to jump up in my seat.

My heart is racing, my hand grabbing my chest from the surprise. "Fuck, Dean."

Dean leans down whispering in my ear, "All you have to do is ask."

Sam clears his throat and out of his mouth tumbles the quickest lie, "I was trying to keep under wraps how much Elena spent at the store."

Dean's gaze on me doesn't break, "How much did you spend?"

"About a thousand." I admit through pursed lips.

Dean's eyes enlarge at the amount, "A _thousand_ _dollars_?"

"It's only the essentials! I mean when I left with you I only brought a few things and now who knows how long I'm going to be with you two." I'm rambling and I know it, but I can't stop. "I think you guys should get some more stuff too, I mean, it's easier than doing laundry all the time and wearing the same stuff over and over again. Not that there's anything wrong wi-"

Dean places his strong hand over mine and gently squeezes, causing my rambling to cease, "Lena. It's okay, really. We're just giving you a hard time." His eyebrows lift and his lips curl up slightly at the ends, "But you're the one who is going to figure out how it's fitting in the Impala."

I nod and and smile, "Deal."

Sam is clacking away on the keys of his keyboard, "Guys, I think I found us a case."

* * *

Twenty cups of coffee, one hundred replays of Dean's tapes, six arguments, and about nine hundred miles later - we arrive at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The three of us all have on our 'professional attire' and are making our way up to the front door of a woman's home, a relative of the victim. Sam knocks on the door and we are greeted by an elegant and well-groomed approximately 70 year old woman, she introduces herself as Gertrude Case, or Gert for short. Sam and Dean pull out their fake badges to identify themselves, I follow suit, obviously satisfied she invites us in.

"I don't understand. I already went over all this with the other detectives." Gert huffs at us.

"Right, yes. But, see, we're with the Sheriff's Department, not the police department – different departments. " Dean explains.

Sam begins, "So, Mrs. Case…"

"Please." Gert is now looking very intently at Sam. "Ms. Case."

Dean clears his throat and I'm just watching trying not to laugh.

Sam shifts uncomfortably but continues, "Okay. Um, _Ms._ Case, um... you were the one who found your niece, correct?"

Gert nods, "I came home, she was in the shower."

"And she had drowned?" I say pitching in.

"So the coroner says. Now you tell me, how can someone drown in the shower?"

"How would you describe Sheila's behavior in the days before her death? I mean, did she seem frightened? Maybe she said something out of the ordinary, or –" Before Sam can finish his sentence Gert cuts him off.

"Wait a minute." She says waggling her finger at us. "You're working with Alex, aren't you?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" I exclaim probably a little too anxiously.

Dean turns his head to me eyes wide like, 'Seriously?' returning his head to Gert he smiles, "Alex and us, we're like this." Dean takes his index finger, middle finger and crosses them.

"Why didn't you say so? Alex has been such a comfort. But I'm sorry. I thought the case was solved."

"Uh..well, no. Not yet." I stutter out.

Gert's eyebrows furrow with concern, "I see."

"Anyway, we were talking about your niece." Sam says trying to move the conversation along.

"Well, yes. Sheila mentioned something quite strange before she died. She said she saw a boat."

"A boat?" Deans voice questions.

"Yes. One minute it was there, the next it was gone. It just disappeared right before her eyes. You think it could be a ... ghost ship? Alex thinks it could be a ghost ship." Gert continues to stare at longingly at Sam. "Well. You let me know if there's anything else I can do for you." Gert begins to slowly trace her fingers along Sam's hand. Sam freezes and stares at her awkwardly, a giant smirk grows along Dean's face as well as mine.

Sam clears his throat, obviously uncomfortable. "Of course. Thank you for your time."

* * *

As the three of us walk along the docks, I stare out at the water. It's filled with big pristine boats.

"What a crazy broad." Dean points out.

"Why? Because she believes in ghosts?" Sam asks.

Dean laughs loudly and punches Sam lightly in the shoulder, "Look at you, sticking up for your girlfriend. You cougar hound."

"Bite me."

"Hey, not if she bites you first. So, who's this Alex? We got another player in town?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't change our job."

"So ghost ship?"

"Yeah. It's not the first one sighted around here, either. Every 37 years, like clockwork, reports of a vanishing three-mast clipper ship out in the bay. And every 37 years, a rash of weirdo, dry-land drownings."

"So, whatever's happening is just getting started."

"Yeah."

Dean looks back to me as I'm trailing behind the guys listening and taking it all in. "You're quiet."

I raise my eyes to meet his, "Just listening. I'm new to all this remember?"

Dean nods in agreement and looks back to Sam, "What's the lore?"

"Well, there are apparitions of old wrecks sighted all over the world. The S.S. Violet, the Griffin, the Flying Dutchman – almost all of them are death omens."

"So, what happens? You see the ship and then a few hours later, you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye?"

Sam shrugs nonchalantly, "Basically."

I pick up my pace to get into stride with them, "What's the next step?"

"Gotta I.D. the boat."

"That shouldn't be too hard, right?" I ask hopefully, "I mean, how many three-mast clipper ships have wrecked off the coast?"

"I checked that too, actually. Over one hundred and fifty." Sam discloses.

"Wow." Dean remarks in astonishment.

We climb the steps from the dock to the sidewalk and look to where we parked. I'm the first one to notice something is off, "This is where we parked the car, right?"

Sam looks around a little confused, "I thought so."

Dean's eyes become wider than I have ever seen. He looks around frantically, "Where's my car?"

"Did you feed the meter?" Sam asks.

"YES, I fed the meter Sam." Dean's voice rises into a panicky tone. "Where's my car? Someone stole my car!" He doubles and clutches his knees, hyperventilating.

I rush over and place my hand on his back, rubbing softly, "Dean. Hey, hey, hey. Shhh, calm down. We'll find her." Dean is gasping for air as I continue to try and calm him down.

"The '67 Imapala? Was that yours?" A voice asks from in front of us.

Dean and I look up. "Bela." I spit out in disgust.

Her hands are stuffed in the pockets over her overcoat, "I'm sorry, I had that car towed."

"You what?!" Dean straightens up, obviously pissed.

"Well, it was in a tow-away zone."

"No, it wasn't!"

Bela cocks her head with a grin, "It was when I was finished with it."

"What the hell are you even doing here?" I ask through grit teeth.

"A little yachting." She responds flippantly.

A flicker or recognition crosses Sam's face, "You're Alex. You're working with that old lady."

Bela places a hand over her heart, "Gert is a dear old friend."

"Yeah, right. You're not one for friends. What's your angle?"

"There's no angle. There are a lot of lovely old women like Gert up and down the eastern seaboard. I sell them charms; perform séances so they can commune with their dead cats."

I roll my eyes, "Let me guess. Like everything else your skanky ass does, it's all a con, none of its real."

"How do you sleep at night?" Sam chimes in.

"On silk sheets, rolling naked in money." Bela smirks directing at Sam.

"So you know what's going on around here." Dean's question is rhetorical. "This ghost-ship thing, it is real."

Bela looks to Dean, "I'm aware. Thanks for telling Gert the case wasn't solved, by the way."

"Because it isn't." I remark in annoyance.

"She didn't know that. Now the old bag's stopped payment and she's demanding some real answers. Look... just stay out of my way before you cause any more trouble. I'd get to that car if I were you, before they find the arsenal in the trunk." Bela turns and walks away, throwing a 'Ciao' over her shoulder.

Dean is barely holding it together, his hand clenched in a twitching fist, "Can I shoot her?"

"Not in public." Sam and I responded in unison.

* * *

Another house, another victim. After talking with the local authorities we walk back to the Impala. Dean pops open the trunk and grabs two shot guns, he hands one to Sam and one to me. Sam and I reach inside gathering rounds to load. Dean grabs his own gun, checking the clip, as he locks it into place we hear Bela's voice coming from behind us.

"I see you got your car back."

Dean's finger moves over the trigger as he turns around, "You really want to come near me when I have a loaded gun in my hands?"

"Now, now." Bela scolds him, "Mind your blood pressure. Why are you even still here? You have enough to I.D. the boat."

Sam finishes loading his shot gun and pumps it into place, "The brother of the victim saw the ship too and he's going to die. We have to save him."

"How sweet." Bela giggles saracastically.

"Do you think this is funny?" I question as I place the last shell into my shotgun.

Bela shrugs, "I'm actually going to find the ship and put an end to this. But you have fun."

Sam slams the trunk shut, the three of us open our doors but I pause, "Bela how'd you get like this?"

"Don't you dare look down your nose at me. You're not better than I am." She growls.

"We help people." Dean adds sharply.

Bela scoffs at his statement, "Come on. You do this out of vengeance and obsession. You're a stone's throw from being a serial killer. Whereas I, on the other hand, I get paid to do a job and I do it. So, you tell me – which is healthier?" Before any of us can come up with a comeback she's already turned on her heels and walked away.

The drive back to the house we were staying in - rather squatting in - is silent. My mind is blank, my body feels numb, and I'm just staring out the window blankly.

"We can't save everyone Lena."

Dean's voice breaks me from my trance; I look to Sam first who is staring out the windshield, not speaking or even paying attention to us, then to the rearview mirror to meet Dean's gaze.

"I know. It's just, I feel like we could've." My voice comes out quiet and broken.

"Sometimes, no matter how hard we try we just can't. I know it's hard, believe me I know." Dean reaches his free hand to the back seat, wiggling his fingers, silently asking me to take his hand. I reach up, lacing my fingers through his, he squeezes tightly for a few moments before letting go, returning himself back to the front. My hand drops back into my lap with a light plop and we continue the rest of the drive in silence.

Dean pulls the Impala into the driveway; he throws her into park and cuts the engine. Mindlessly I open the door and get out, slamming it a little harder than I intended.

"Easy!" Dean yells still inside the car.

"Sorry." My apology comes out mumbled, I'm not entirely sure he even heard me.

My feet seem to drag up the driveway and the stairs to the front door; lazily I open the door and go inside. Sam comes in after, followed by Dean, we all sit around the table, books spread out along the visible surfaces.

I grab one and open it to the book marked page, "Let's get to work."

I really want to sleep. I can feel pressure on my eyelids to close. I shake my head to attempt to shake the cobwebs from my brain and take another sip of my coffee. Sam is flipping through one of the other books on the table and Dean is on the phone, with who I can only assume is Bobby. Before I can resume reading a knock comes from the front door. Dean slaps his phone shut and shoves it in his pocket as he walks to the front door. He looks through the peephole then back to Sam and I, " _Bela."_ He mouths silently causing both of us to groan.

"I know you're in there." Bela calls from the other side of the door.

Dean grabs the handle and reluctantly yanks it open. "What."

Bela pushes her way past the door inside, "Dear God. Are you actually squatting? Charming." She stops speaking but makes her way further from the door. "So how'd things go last night?"

None of us respond, but our silence answers her question.

"That well, huh?"

Dean slams the door shut and storms past her, "If you say 'I told you so', I swear to God I'll start swinging."

"Look, I think the four of us should have a heart-to-heart."

A fake laugh erupts from my belly, "That's assuming you have a heart."

"Elena please, I'm sorry okay? I come bearing gifts." Bela pulls a manila like folder from her purse. "I've I.D'd the ship." Stepping toward the table she unzips the folder spreading its contents out. "It's the _Espírito Santo_ , a merchant sailing vessel, quite a colorful history. In 1859 a sailor was accused of treason. He was tried aboard ship in a kangaroo court and hanged. He was 37."

"That would explain the 37 year cycle." Sam deduces.

"Aren't you a sharp tack? There's a photo of him somewhere." Bela flips through the files, pulls out an old photo and hands it to Dean. "Here."

Dean inspects the photo then looks at Sam and I. "Isn't that the customer we saw last night?"

"You saw him?"

I take the photo from Dean to look at it myself, "Yeah that's him, except he was missing a hand."

"His right hand?" Bela asks.

"How'd you know?"

"The sailor's body was cremated, but not before they cut off his hand to make a hand of glory."

Dean chuckles, "A hand of glory? I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week."

I can feel a look of annoyance creep across my face, "Seriously?" Dean looks at me and shrugs in an apologetic way.

"Dean, the right hand of a hanged man is a serious occult object. It's very powerful." Sam explains ignoring Deans joke.

"So they say." Bela adds.

Sam continues to fumble over the papers for answers, "Officially counts as remains. But it still doesn't explain how the ghost is choosing his victims."

"I'll tell you why: Who cares?" Bela reaches down and gathers the papers, stuffing them back into the folder. "Find the hand, burn it, and stop the bloody thing."

"I don't get it. Why are you telling us all of this?" I say with a disconcerting shake of my head.

"Because I know exactly where the hand is. At the Sea Pines Museum. It's a macabre bit of maritime history. But I need help."

"What kind of help?" Dean asks suspiciously.

All Bela does is smile.

* * *

The only light are the candles illuminating the room. I've showered and let my hair dry naturally so it fell into soft curls. I pick up a few of the bobby pins that are laid out on the dresser and place them in my hair to pull it to softly drape over one side. When I'm satisfied with the way it looks, I turn around and stare at the bed. Bela had gone out and bought me a dress for the event we were attending, not that she told us what the event actually was, but the gown was beautiful none the less. I open the box of heels I had bought in the days prior and slide my feet into them, surprisingly they're not terribly uncomfortable. I slip off my robe and lift the gown from the bed, lowering it so I can step inside. I ease it up my body, reaching back I fumble for the zipper, realizing – there isn't one.

With a reluctant sigh I call out, "Sam? Can you come here for a second?"

There's no response but I hear footsteps making their way to me. "What's up?" Sam asks appearing in the door frame.

I turn my back to him but speak over my shoulder. "I thought this dress had a zipper but it's a corset back. Can you lace me up?" I throw in a sugary sweet smile for good measure.

Sam smiles back, "Of course." He steps into the room and over to me. Taking the ribbons into his hands he starts to tighten them. "Why didn't you ask Dean?"

"I uh… didn't want him to see me not completely ready." I admit sheepishly.

"Hmm." I can't see Sam's face but I know there is a giant smile on it.

"That's not what I meant!" I whisper.

"I see the way he looks at you when you're not looking..." Sam states as he continues to work, pulling the dress tighter around my waist.

I can feel my cheeks heat up from the observation. "He doesn't look at me any particular way Sam. You're seeing things."

"I'm not seeing things Elena, I know my brother." I can feel his hands at small of my back so I know he is close to finishing. "The only person I've ever seen care about, like he cares about you, is me." Sam stops and turns me to face him.

"Sam, if I can't save him…"

"We _will_ save him," He takes a few steps towards the dresser and picks up the silky black gloves, handing them to me. "Don't let him get away." he kissed me on the cheek and walks towards the door. "You look beautiful by the way." With that he's gone.

_Don't let him get away._ I repeat to myself as I maneuver the gloves over my hands and up my arms. _Don't let him get away._

* * *

I can hear Dean down stairs, " _Don't objectify me."_

God knows what is happening down there.

A final once over in the mirror leaves me satisfied and I leave the room, descending down the stairs. The click of my heels on the old wood catches everyone's attention. Dean is the last to turn around, as I climb the last few steps his eyes remain steady and unblinking, as if he had suddenly forgotten how. The final step brings me to the floor in front of him, his eyes blink rapidly as if to catch up on what he's missed. "Wow. You look… Wow." Is all Dean can seemingly manage.

Suddenly I feel like a kid again, like a boy is telling me he likes me for the first time. My head drops slightly, my line of sight on the ground, attempting to hide my reddening cheeks.

"Thank you." I raise my head courageously and smile, "You don't look so bad yourself."

"I look ridiculous." Dean argues, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"No. You don't."

Our gazes lock and neither of us waver until Bela interrupts. "When this is over you two should really have sex."

"What?"

"Excuse me?

* * *

The four of us are packed in the Impala like sardines.

"I could've drove you know." Bela complains from beside me.

"I don't trust you as far as I could throw you, Bela." Dean retorts as he puts Baby into park.

"I got us the tickets didn't I? We're all lucky Gert didn't want to tag along." Bela leans forward and strokes Sam's shoulder, "She really wanted to be your date Sam."

"Instead I'm stuck with... _you_." Sam sneers over his shoulder.

"I can call up Gert if you'd like."

Tired of their bickering I interrupt, "Will you two cut it out? We have a job to do, people to save. So let's go." I reach for the handle to let myself out of the backseat but Dean jumps out of the front seat, tripping over himself to open the door for me.

I lift my dress with one hand to prevent it from dragging on the ground, Dean extends his hand and I happily take it exiting the car. "Thank you, Mr. Winchester."

Dean lifts my gloved hand to his mouth and kisses it gently, "Anytime, Miss Gilbert." he responds closing the door behind me.

Bela has her arm linked with Sam's and they're halfway to the main doors, "Are you two coming?"

I look to Dean; he places his hand over his stomach making a gap to slip my arm through his, using my free hand I continue to hold up my gown a bit. Dean's strides are longer than mine considering he's taller but he's obviously slowing down because our pace is even, "Why are you holding up your dress like that?" Dean asks curiously looking at my hand.

"I don't want to ruin it by having it drag on the ground." We take a few steps before I admit what I'm really thinking, "And honestly I don't want to owe Bela anything."

"We aren't going to owe her shit, Lena. Her plan, her idea, her money. We ain't payin for jack."

Crossing the threshold from outside to the interior was like stepping into another world, the music is light and airy, softly overcoming my senses. Dean reaches into his tux and reveals our invitation to the doorman, who gives us the go ahead to enter. Sam and Bela are already positioned at the bar, Dean directs us there.

"There's security all over this place, look at the way they're standing. Definitely pros, probably state troopers moonlighting." Sam observes.

Dean looks around the room taking everything in, "Posted at every door, too."

"Okay so what's our plan?" I ask, trying to move things along.

Dean's demeanor changes and his leader persona takes over, "Sam, you and Bela are going to get the hand. Lena and I are going to be down here, keeping our eyes on everyone else. You need to be in and out, fifteen minutes tops."

Bela scoffs, "And by 'keeping your eyes on everyone else' you basically mean enjoy the party."

"Hey, it's all a part of the job."

"Whatever. Meet us by the car in twenty minutes. Let's go Sam." Bela and Sam make their way across the room whispering, more than likely trying to come up with a plan.

Dean grabs two glasses of champagne off the tray of a waiter passing by and hands one to me. He holds his glass out toward me suggesting a toast. "What are we supposed to be toasting Dean?" I ask marveling at his optimism.

He stops for a moment to think before he finally speaks and lifts his glass. "To living in the moment."

I lift my glass and clink it against his, "To living in the moment."

We both raise our glasses to our lips and empty the contents down our throats. Once I've swallowed I burst into a fit of laughter, "That was very impolite of us."

Dean's smile grows on his face, "Yeah well screw polite." He grabs two more and we repeat our previous actions.

I shake my head and stick my tongue out in minor disgust. "C'mon Lena. Don't tell me you can't hold your alcohol." Dean teases.

"I wasn't much of a drinker back home."

Dean's eye brows raise and he looks to the ceiling with his lips pursed, like he's contemplating what I've said, "Yeah I can see that. You're the good girl type."

"The 'good girl type'?" I can feel the annoyance bubbling inside me at the assumption. I grab another glass of champagne and slam it back like the others.

Dean's eyes are wide, fixated on my actions. "I didn't mean it like-"

'Stop." I raise my finger to shush him.

"Elena I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

I grab another glass, bringing it to my lips I suck the glass dry. "Okay." Dean takes the glass from me setting it on the bar behind us. "That's enough for you. We're on a job."

"I'm f-fi-fine." I can feel the alcohol hitting me.

The corners of his lips turn upward and he steps in front of me with his arm extended, "May I have this dance?"

I look at his hand, without a moment's hesitation I place mine into his and he pulls me onto the dance floor. His hand finds the small of my back pulling me into him, I shiver under his touch. We begin to move slowly, neither of us speak we just flow. We're so close, I can feel his breath on my face, and slowly I raise my eyes to look at him, finding that he's already staring at me. The only time we've been this close was our kiss, but now I can study him eyes wide open. His green eyes are piercing, like fields of bright moss, the field of freckles that cover his nose and cheeks seem like they are placed almost on purpose, he's breathtaking.

"What?" Dean breathed softly.

"You're a great dancer."

He chuckles, "Don't get used to it."

He uses the hand that's on my back to guide me outward, the only thing linking us together is our opposite hands. He uses it to spin me back, landing my body onto his, our faces mere millimeters apart. Neither of us back away, as if we fear, that if we do, everything would disappear. _Don't let him get away._ Sam's words ring clear in my head. Before I can change my mind I lean the rest of the way in and press my lips lightly against his. I can feel his grip tighten on my back so I deepen the kiss, but before I can really begin, it's broken – Dean pulled away. He doesn't say a word; he just looks at me for a moment and walks away, leaving me alone on the dance floor.

I feel as if my feet are glued in place, like the entire room is spinning. But I force myself to gather my composure, turn toward the entrance and follow him out. Once over the threshold, I can see him almost running to the Impala. "Dean!"

He doesn't stop, he just keeps going.

"Dean! Stop!" I pick up the hem of dress and start to slowly run. "God damn it Dean! Heels are a bitch to run in so, STOP!"

He comes to a halt but doesn't turn to face me; I keep jogging until I am in front of him. "Why did you leave me in there?"

He doesn't answer, he doesn't even look at me, his gaze is fixated on the ground.

"Dean, look at me!" I begged. He hesitantly lifted his eyes to mine. "Why did you leave me?"

"I can't do this with you Elena."

"Do what?"

"This! Whatever this is."

"What do you think this is Dean?"

"Honestly I don't know. I know- I know I feel something for you okay? I know that. But I'm going to _hell_ and nothing is changing that. So why am I going to act on _anything_ I feel when I'm just going to hurt you in the end?"

"You're not going to go t-"

Dean raises both of his hands before throwing them back down angrily, "Can we just be realistic here for a minute please. We haven't found _any_ viable ways to get me out of my deal. I've accepted that. I did what I did to save Sam. At least when I'm gone he'll have you."

"Don't talk like that." My voice comes out barely a whisper.

"It's true. I've accepted it; now you and Sam need to. It'll make it hurt less."

I can feel a fire inside me growing and I just let it explode, "You think that if I push my feelings down and fight them off it's going to somehow make losing you easier? It's not, Dean, okay? Losing you is going to be hard either way and I'm not ready! I'm not ready and neither is Sam. So stop giving me this tough guy shit, you're not fooling anyone, least of all me."

Before I can register what's happening Dean is stepping toward me, quickly closing the space between us, his hands find my cheeks, cupping them gently, lips pressing against mine. The warmth of his mouth sends a current through my body; I feel as if I've found a moment of forever, like this is how we should always be. My mouth opens to his, and our tongues meet, it feels like finding an entire half of me that had been missing. After a moment, Dean pulls back far enough to look into my eyes. I can feel myself trembling with the need to touch him everywhere at once, or to feel him touch me. I twine my arms around his neck and he presses his forehead against mine.

"This is why I can't do this. I will want you every moment of every day, you will consume my thoughts, my actions, everything. And the thought of having to take all of this away from you, will hurt more than hell." Dean whispers breathlessly against my skin.

"Why do you get to choose for me?"

"Because I care about you too much to hurt you."

We're ripped from our moment by the sound of pounding feet headed toward us.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did we interrupt a moment?" Bela asks snidely.

"No," Dean responds with irritating lining his voice. "Let's see it."

"Crap I dropped my bag back there. Be back in a flash." Bela turns from us and sprints back toward the house.

Sam pulled out what looks like a napkin from his tux pocket and unwrapped it, only to reveal a ship in a bottle. "She stole it! I'm going to fucking kill her!"

* * *

Now that we're back at the house I can get out of this dress and try to escape the memories that come along with it. I slip into jeans and a t-shirt and walk back down stairs. Dean is looking over the ship in a bottle and Sam is sitting there watching.

"You know what you're right, we should kill her. Wait - wait, no, I think slow torture is the way to go."

"Dean," I say as I pad down the stairs, "You gotta relax."

"Relax?!" Dean exclaims. "Oh yeah, I'll relax. _Not_. I can't believe she got another one over on us."

"Well on the bright side at least we know why the victims were chosen. Thank you Gert." Sam sighs.

A rapid knocking comes from the front door.

"Hello? Could you open up?" Dean walks to the door and swings it open. Bela.

"Just let me explain please," Bela walks in and immediately sits down all the while aimlessly running her fingers through her hair. "I sold it. I had a buyer lined up as soon as I knew it existed."

Dean is circling her like a vulture observing its prey, "So the whole reason for us going to the charity ball was...?"

"I needed a cover. You three were convenient."

"You sold it to someone, just go buy it back."

"It's halfway across the ocean. I can't get it back in time."

"In time for what?" I question.

Bela looks down at her hands in her lap but doesn't respond.

"What's going on with you, Bela? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sam stares at her intently, I can see on his face that the gears of his mind are starting to turn. "You saw it didn't you. You saw the ship."

"Wow." A wickedly sarcastic laugh comes bubbling out of my mouth. " I knew you were a thieving con artist bitch, but just when I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower-"

Bela looks up at me, "What are you talking about?"

Sam pulls out a photo from the pile on the table and slaps it into Bela's lap. "We figured out the spirit's motive. This is the captain of our ship. The one who hung our ghost boy, they were brothers. Very Cain and Abel. So now our spirit, he's going after a very specific kind of target – people who've spilled their own family's blood. See first there was Sheila who killed her cousin in the car accident, and the Warren brothers, who murdered their father for the inheritance. And now you."

" _Oh my God_." Bela croaks out.

Dean walks towards the door picking up his jacket along the way, "Well have a nice life – you know whatever's left of it. Sam, Elena: let's go."

Bela scrambles up from the chair begging, "Please don't leave me here. Please. I need your help."

"You do realize you sold the only thing that could save your life, right?"

"I'm aware." Bella responds a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Well…" Sam sighs. "Maybe not the only thing."

* * *

We pack up our things around the house, making sure we don't leave anything behind.

"Guys…" I groan obnoxiously. "Why did we save her again?"

"Because, as much as she sucks, it was the right thing to do." Sam calls back.

"Ughhhhhh." Dean and I groan out at the same time.

As I'm shoving one of the last books back into the bag, the front door swings open and Bela waltz's right in. "You should learn to lock your doors, anyone could just barge in."

" _Anyone_ just did." I reply sharply.

"Did you come to say 'goodbye' or 'thank you'?" Sam asks hopefully.

"I've come to settle affairs. Giving the spirit what he really wanted, his own brother – very clever, Sam. So here," Out of her purse she pulls out three stacks of wrapped bills and tosses one to each of us. "It's ten thousand – that should cover it. I don't like being in anyone's debt."

"So… coming up with ten thousand dollars is easier than saying thank you?" I shake my head as I thumb over the bills in my hand and deadpan, "You're damaged."

A wide smile overcomes Bela's face, "Takes one to know one. Goodbye. " She turns and leaves slamming the door behind her.

"Do you think she's really gone?" I keep my voice low so only Sam and Dean can hear.

They both cock their heads to listen. "Yeah I think she's gone." Sam ascertains.

I flop down into the chair next to me, "Thank God."

"What are we going to do with all this money?" Sam asks flipping through the bills in his hands.

Dean shrugs, "No credit card scams or pool sharking for awhile."

"I don't even want to know." I say exasperated.

"No, you really don't." Sam chuckles shaking his head. He grabs a few of the bags and heads out towards the door. "I'm going to pack the car."

Dean and I are left alone for the first time since, _well you know_ , and I honestly don't know what to say. Thankfully he breaks the silence first and I'm off the hook.

"Lena, about the other night. I shouldn't have done that."

"Done what Dean? Left me on the dance floor? Or kissed me?"

"The first one. Both. I don't know."

"You don't need to apologize, I guess I shouldn't have kissed you in the first place."

Dean rises from his chair and moves toward me, "That's the thing. I wanted you to... but at the same time didn't." He shakes his head. "If that makes any sense."

I offer him a small smile, "It does Dean."

"I know I'm stubborn - you are too. I know you won't give up on trying to find a way for me to get out of my deal." He lifts his hand and caresses my cheek. "Don't give up on me yet, okay?"

I nuzzle my cheek into his hand without even realizing, "I won't stop looking for a way. But there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that?"

I pause for a moment before finding the courage to speak once again, "We went after the Cross Roads Demon."

Dean's hand drops from my face and he takes a step back from me. "After I told you not to? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I had Sam with me. He shot her."

"Great. You had Sam with you. What did he shoot her with?" He pauses for a moment, the answer registering in his brain, "He took the Colt. I'm going to fucking kill him." Dean paces back and forth across the room rubbing his face. "So, what? Does that, does that mean I'm out of my deal?"

"If you were, don't you think I would've said something sooner?" I reply trying to keep my tone even. "Apparently someone else holds your contract."

"Well, we should find out who. Of course our best lead would have been the Crossroads Demon. Oh wait..."

"Hilarious, Dean." I retort sarcasm dripping from my words.

He stalks over to me and begins yelling in my face. "No, it's not! It was a stupid freaking risk, and you shouldn't have done it."

"I should have done it? Are you serious?" there's no stopping the escalation in my tone, "That's the entire reason I'm here in the first place! To save your life! So no matter what you do, I'm going to try and save you. And I'm sure as hell not going to apologize for it. So you better buckle up Dean Winchester, because you're in for one crazy ride." Turning away from him I grab my suitcase and wheel it out the house, leaving Dean stunned behind me.

Sam still has the trunk open so I stuff my suitcase in and close it with force. Out of the corner of my eye I see Dean closing the door of the house and making his way down the stairs. He looks to me for a brief moment, an apology pleading to me with his eyes, I accept it and he can read that on my face. Dean takes his rightful place at the steering wheel and I take mine in the back seat.

"Where to guys?" Sam asks looking back and forth between us.

Dean turns the key in the ignition and the Impala roars to life. He brings the stack of bills into view and with a wicked smile he responds, "Atlantic City?"

 

 


	7. Blonde Hair and Black Eyes

_January 31, 2008 – 5 months later_

We're stopped at a gas station off the highway, Sam is filling up the gas tank and Dean is inside the convenient store – getting what I can only assume is pie. I'm sitting in the backseat, head leaning against the head rest, with my eyes closed. That is until I hear my phone going crazy in my purse, I reach inside, pull it out and look at the screen, Caroline is on my caller ID.

With a not-so-silent groan, I pick up. "Hello?"

"Elena!" Caroline squeals on the other end. "How are you? Better yet- where are you?"

"I'm good, and I'm not telling you. Don't need you trying to drag me back to Mystic Falls."

"C'mon Elena. Mystic Falls is your home."

"No it's not, not anymore."

"I just miss you." I hear Caroline pout.

"I miss you too Care, I do."

"Any luck finding anything that will get Dean out of his one way trip to hell?"

Absentmindedly I look to the store; I can make out Dean through the window paying for his items. "Nothing."

"Then come home, please."

I sigh heavily making sure she hears it, "No Caroline. With Sam and Dean... I'm actually helping people. I'm not sitting around having to play the martyr role. I fight alongside them; they treat me as an equal instead of having me sit on the sidelines because they think I can't handle myself. Wow that last part sounds a lot like two vampires we know."

"They're not perfect."

"I know they're not, but I'm not coming back. I'm going to stay with them, until the end if that's the case." Caroline stays silent, I've made up my mind and she knows it. "Tell Bonnie I miss her too, okay?"

"Okay." Caroline's voice barely comes out a whisper.

"I love you, Care."

"I love you too, Elena."

I pull the phone away from my ear and tap the end button on my screen right as Sam opens the driver's side door sliding himself in. "Who was that?" he asks closing the door.

"Caroline." I place the phone over my mouth, tapping it against my lips. "She wants me to come back to Mystic Falls."

"Do you want to go back?"

I toss him a look that blatantly says 'Does it look like I want to go back?'

Sam throws up his hands in defense, "I'm sorry, just thought I'd ask. You know we'd take you back if you wanted to go."

Lowering my hands from my face I slip my phone back into my purse. "I know."

"But don't ever mistake that for us wanting you to go, because we don't." Sam smiles at me.

I can't help but smile back, "Thanks Sam."

"Anytime."

The passenger side door swings open and Dean plops himself down into the seat, crumpling the bags in his arms. "I come bearing sustenance!"

"It's gas station food, Dean." I point out with a laugh.

Dean turns around and faces me, "Hey, hey this is _quality_ gas station food okay?" He reaches inside the bag and begins to pull things out showing the items to us as he goes. "We've got some sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly with some barbeque chips for Sam, turkey and cheese with some chocolate covered pretzels for you Lena, and for me-" Dean pulls out taquitos and pie. "A meal fit for a King!"

Sam shakes his head and grabs his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I peer over the seat, and look at all the items in between the brothers, reaching over I grab the sandwich, bag of pretzels, and a bottle of water. Leaning back into my spot I open the bag of chocolaty, salty goodness and pop one in my mouth murmuring appreciation in between chews.

"You're welcome." Dean purrs with a sly smile.

"So where are we going?"

* * *

Sam makes his way into the bathroom as Dean and I start our conversation with Paul Dutton.

"She was so scared. I couldn't help; I couldn't do anything to stop it. And I've talked to the police, and I've talked to the medical examiner and no one can explain it." Paul explained holding back tears.

"Well that's why they called us Mr. Dutton." I tell him, trying to keep my voice as soothing as possible.

He looks up to Dean and I from the bed, "But the CDC, that's disease control right? What do you think; it's some kind of virus?"

"We're not ruling out anything yet. Mr. Dutton did Janet have any enemies?" Dean asks pointedly

Confusion overcomes Paul's face. "I'm sorry?"

Sam looks to me and I nod before he closes the bathroom door.

Dean continues, "Is there anyone that might have a reason to hurt her?"

"Wait, what are you saying? That somebody poisoned her?"

"We're just trying to cover all the bases Mr. Dutton. We want to find out what happened to your wife." I insist.

"You think a person could have done this?"

"Would anyone want to?"

"What?! No, no, there's just no one that could've-"Paul stops his sentence short.

"Mr. Dutton?" Dean asks.

Paul shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts, "Uh, everyone loved Janet."

Sam exiting the bathroom catches our attention; he nods his head to let us know that he is done looking around.

"Okay. Thank you very much; I think we've got everything we need. We'll get out of your way now." Dean closes his notepad and turns to exit the door.

I take Mr. Dutton's hands into mine, "I'm so sorry for your loss." He smiles a small smile at me; I release his hands and follow Sam and Dean out the door.

The rain hits us softly as we walk to the Impala; Dean is the first to speak. "That dude seem a little evasive to you?"

I shrug, "A little bit, but he did just lose his wife."

"Well when I was under the sink I found this." Sam pulls out a tiny sack like item from his pocket and hands it to Dean.

I poke my head in between them to look at the bag, "What is it?"

"Hex bag." Dean responds as he opens the bag. "Awww gross."

"Yeah, there are bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth is probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned." Sam says as we reach the car.

My mouth pulls into a frown. "Rabbits teeth? Poor rabbit."

"So we're thinking witches?" Dean asks as he opens the driver's door.

I open and back door and Sam opens the passenger side, "Uh, yeah, and not some new age wicked water douser either. This is Old World black magic Dean, I mean, warts and all."

We all enter the car and close our doors but Dean doesn't start the engine. "I hate witches. They're always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere."

Sam chuckles, "Pretty much."

"That's kind of creepy." I pipe from the back seat. "And definitely unsanitary." I stick my tongue out in disgust.

"Yeah, well someone definitely had it out for Janet Dutton." Sam concludes.

"Well, someone had to have gotten into the house to put the bag there right?" Sam and Dean nod yes to my question. "So how do we find that someone?"

"Well it wasn't random." Sam points out. "Someone in her life had an ugly axe to grind. So we find the motive-"

"We find the murderer." I finish.

Dean starts the car, pulling us away from the curb and into the rain.

* * *

We're parked around a very dim streetlamp around the corner from Paul Dutton's car. "So we just wait for him to start dying?" I ask.

"Basically." Sam and Dean respond in unison.

"Awesome." I deadpanned.

Its mere minutes before the three of us see Paul heaving in his car. We scramble out and run towards him. Dean pulls Paul from the front seat while Sam and I frantically search the car. Sam is pulling out the underside of the dashboard and I am using a knife to rip open the seats all the while the song 'I Put a Spell on You' is ironically playing from Paul's cars speakers.

"Sam! Elena! Hurry!" Dean yells out in desperation.

Sam pulls out the hex bag from under the dash yelling out "Got it!" he pulls out a lighter out of his jacket pocket and sets the bag on fire, dropping it to the ground as it glows with blue and green flames.

Dean lets go of Paul and he leans back against his car trying to recover from the choking he just endured.

"Are you okay?" I ask placing my hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell is happening to me?!" Paul gasps out.

"Someone murdered your wife and now they're trying to kill you, that's what's happening to you." Dean points out.

"That's impossible! There's no way-"

Dean cuts his sentence short, "If we hadn't have been following you, you'd be a doornail right now. Now who wants you dead?"

"I- uh…" Paul stops for a moment before continuing, "There was a woman, an affair - a mistake. She was un-balanced. She was blackmailing me and I put an end to it a week ago."

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Amanda."

* * *

Dean picks the lock of Amanda's front door and the three of us make our way inside of her home, guns drawn. Sam and Dean had got me my own gun a few months back, a compact Glock with purple etching along the base. One look in the living room seemingly gives us all the answers we're looking for; Amanda's lifeless body is strewn across the table covered in blood, candles are illuminating the dark room.

My eyes go wide at the sight, "I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah." Sam murmurs.

Dean approaches her body and uses the barrel of his gun to lift her left arm, then her right, inspecting them. "Three per wrist, vertical. She wasn't foolin' around."

Sam places his gun in the back of his jeans and bends down, there is scattered remnants of an alter across the floor. We both grab our noses as a wave of rotten food hits our nostrils. "Looks like she was working some heavyweight evil here."

"Yep." Dean replies, keeping his answer short and clipped.

I keep my gun in hand but lowered to my side, I turn around but instantly jump back startled by the sight behind me – a dead rabbit hanging by its hind legs from the ceiling. "Oh my god." I place my free hand over my mouth. "I guess we know where she got the teeth from. Poor little guy."

Sam raises himself from his crouched position; he runs his hands through his hair as he speaks, "You know what I don't get? If she was so bent on revenge, why do this?"

Dean shrugs lightly, "Well, she got Janet Dutton, thought she finished off Paul, decided to cap herself and make it a spurned lover's hat-trick."

I make my way over to the couch and start feeling around in the cushions as the boys continue to talk.

"Maybe." Sam ponders.

"I mean, this doesn't exactly look like the TV room of a bright and stable person you know?"

My hand hits something in between the cushions of the couch, I pull out what was there, "Well there's this." Dean turns to me and I toss the bag at him.

"Another hex bag? Come on!" He nearly whines.

I place my gun in the back of my jeans like Sam had done. "Looks like. A little witch-on-witch violence I guess."

Dean pulls his phone from his jacket, dials, and holds it up to his ear. "I'd like to report a dead body, 309 Mayfair Circle. My name? Yeah, sure my name is—" he clicks his phone shut cutting himself off and returning his phone to his pocket. "So why are witches ganking each other?"

"I don't know, but I think we might have a coven on our hands." Sam concludes.

* * *

The next day we go back to the street Amanda lives on to talk to her neighbors, lucky for us there is one outside. We walk up and Sam starts the conversation off, "You must have a green thumb."

The woman looks up from her garden; eyes slightly squinted against the sun, "Excuse me?"

Sam continues, "Getting these herbs to grow out of season like this is quite impressive. I'm sorry; I should've introduced myself first." He reaches into the breast pocket of his suit and takes out a badge showing it to her.

"I'm Detective Bachman, this is Detective Turner." Sam points to Dean who pulls out his own badge flashing it quickly. "And this is Detective Sanders." He says pointing to me. I follow suit pulling out my badge as well.

"I'm Elizabeth."

"We're following up on Amanda Burns' death, going around the neighborhood and talking to neighbors and stuff like that."

"But didn't she- I mean she killed herself right?" Elizabeth stutters out.

This time Dean speaks, "We heard you were friends with the deceased."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Elizabeth," I say stepping forward. "did you have any idea about Amanda's practices?"

Elizabeth shakes her head, "I'm sorry, what kind of practices?"

"Her house was covered in Satanic paraphernalia." I state with a straight face.

"A regular Black Sabbath." Dean throws in.

Elizabeth's eyes grow wide at Dean's comment, "No, the- but she was an Episcopalian."

Dean chuckles, "Well, then we're pretty sure she was using the wrong Bible."

"Elizabeth, are you all right?" a voice questions from behind us, causing us to turn around, coming face to face with two other women.

"I'm fine. Uh Renee, these are detectives." Elizabeth awkwardly gestures to us. "They say Amanda was- she was practicing-"

"I'm sorry detectives; as you can very well see Elizabeth is a little bit upset." Renee points out, her words edgy.

"Of course, Miss..?" Dean asks open endedly.

"Missus. Renee. Van Allen." She says correcting him, enunciating every word like she's significant and important somehow. "Would you like to me spell that for you?" she adds cocking her head.

Dean's eyes squint in irritation, "I'll get by, thanks. We'll be in touch."

"Have a nice day." I toss over my shoulder as we walk back to the Impala.

* * *

I can feel the grip of the Impala's tires on the road as we speed back to our hotel.

"Well, I'm already sold on that Elizabeth chick. Did you see that victory garden of hers? Belladonna, wolfsbane, mandrake, not to mention that little flinch she threw when we mentioned the occult." Dean notes looking to Sam and I, not keeping his eyes on the road.

"Eyes on the road grandma." I joke causing Dean to mimic me as he returns his gaze to the road in front of him. I look down at the papers in my lap, shuffling them around, "Well, she's definitely had a good run lately, gone up a few tax brackets; won almost too many raffles."

"I don't think she's alone either. Looks like 'Missus. Renee. Van Allen'" Sam mocks causing a giggle to escape my lips. "has won almost every craft contest she has entered in the past three months."

"Yeah, a regular Martha Stewart, huh? Except for the devil worship, I'm thinking that was the coven we met back there, minus one member." Dean says waggling his finger.

"Do you think they killed Amanda because she was going a little nutso? If they did, should we uh, thank them or what?" I ask.

"Elena, they're working black magic too. They need to be stopped." Sam says quietly.

Dean turns his head from the road once again to look at Sam, " 'Stopped' like stopped?"

Sam doesn't have an answer because his expression says it all, _yes_.

I fight back the sickening feeling bubbling in my stomach. "They're _human_ , Sam."

Sam turns almost completely around, "They're _murderers,_ Elena."

I switch my gaze to Dean, his hesitation obvious but out of his mouth comes, "Burn witch, burn."

"Elena, being a hunter means having to do what other people won't."

"You're right. I know you are its just, even back in Mystic Falls it was never…humans." I pause, my throat tightening, but before I can finish my sentence the Impala starts to sputter and choke.

Dean raises both hands from the steering wheel slightly, "What the hell?"

The head lights flicker off and back on again as the Impala slowly comes to a halt in the middle of the road. We all look at the front windshield as a blonde woman is now standing in front of us, arms crossed. Sam is the first one to get out of the car, Dean and I are immediately behind him.

"Ruby."

"Sam, listen to me, there's no time." Ruby says hurriedly stepping toward Sam.

Sam shakes his head in confusion, "No time for what? What are you talking about?"

"You need to get out of town."

"So this is Ruby, huh?" Dean reaches into his jacket, whips out the Colt and immediately cocking it. "Never had the pleasure."

"Dean!" I hiss at him.

He doesn't lower the Colt or move a muscle, "I was hoping you'd show up again."

Ruby turns to Dean, mouth in a hard line, "Point that thing somewhere else."

Out of Dean's mouth comes the most obnoxious fake laugh I've ever heard, "Hahahahahahah! Right."

I step to Dean's side, standing on my tiptoes I whisper in his ear, "Put the gun down, _please_. Not away, just down."

He turns his head and I can feel his breath on my cheek, "Fine." He growls softly in my ear, causing shivers down my spine. I lower myself back to his side mouthing 'Thank you'.

"Sam please. Go. Get in the car and don't look back." Ruby pleads.

"Why? I don't understand."

"Hey blondie." I call out to Ruby, my voice a little shaky. "We can take care of the witches, thanks for the concern though."

Ruby turns her head to me, her gaze piercing into me, "I'm not talking about witches, you newbie hunter bitch. Witches are whores. I'm talking about who they serve."

My eyebrows furrow trying to figure out what Ruby means, looking to Sam and Dean I see they have the same look on their face. Sam is the one to figure it out, "Demons. They get their power from demons."

"Yeah. Sam it knows you're in town and it's gonna come after you and its way more than you can handle."

"Oh come on. Sam please tell me you're not listening to this crap." Dean cries out.

"Put your brother on a leash, Sam, if you wanna keep him." Ruby spits out.

"Dean, look just chill out." Sam pleads to his brother.

"Sam she's messing with your head! How can you even trust her?" I interject.

Ruby cocks her head to the side, "I'm sorry, why are you even a part of this conversation?"

Dean takes a possessive step in front of me, "She's family, you black eyed skank."

Ruby laughs, "Oh right, right. Family you want to fuck, Dean?"

"Shut up." Dean's voice is even and but I can hear the emotion lining his words.

Ruby takes a bold step towards Dean and I, "C'mon Dean. You're too busy fawning over Elena here to worry about your brother. How your brother is going to be when you check out in a few months, leaving him all alone."

"I said shut up!" Dean raises the Colt to fire at Ruby.

"Dean, no!" Sam cries out running towards Dean. Sam pushes Dean's arm away from Ruby as the Colt fires into the air. I cover my ears and duck my head from the blast, but when I look up again Ruby is gone. Dean gives Sam the most disappointing look I have ever seen, before turning away and getting back into the Impala.

Sam looks to me, as if I am supposed to side with him or understand what he's done, but I don't. I shake my head and follow Dean's lead of going back to the car but this time I don't sit in back, I sit beside him in the front. With the click of the door closing Dean looks to me, his expression pained, I know he's hurting, so I don't think twice; I grab his hand entangling my fingers in his. I don't need to see his face to know what he's feeling in this exact moment, because I know he feels what I feel. Comfort.

* * *

Sometimes I wish I could tune out their arguing, they can get just as bad as Stefan and Damon sometimes, that's saying something. So when it gets like this and it does often I just lay on the bed of whatever motel we're in with a pillow over my head, an attempt to drown out the noise.

"Dean if she wants us all dead, all she has to do is stop saving our lives." Sam points out over the running water in the bathroom.

"No! We kill her before she kills us."

"Dean's got a point." I mumble from under the pillow. When my comment is met by silence I lift the pillow from my face and lift myself up slightly to face the double brother stare. I throw up my hands in an 'I surrender' way. "Sorry I won't interfere. Argue on." I lie backwards once more placing the pillow back over my face and they continue on – as usual.

"Dean we have to start thinking big picture, we're not just hunting anymore. We're at war."

"Are you feeling okay?" Dean asks from the foot of the bed we're both on.

Sam walks out of the bathroom, wiping his face dry with a towel. "Why are you always asking me that?" he plops onto to the foot of the bed opposite of us.

"Because you're taking advice from a demon for starters. And by the way, you seem less and less worried about offing people. You know, it used to eat you up inside."

"Yeah, and what has that gotten me?"

"Nothing, but it's just what you're supposed to do okay?" I can hear a change in Dean's tone.

But Sam doesn't and presses on, "Wait, so – so you're mad because I'm starting to agree with you?"

"No, I'm not mad, I'm- I'm- I'm worried, Sam. I'm worried because you're not acting like yourself." I can feel Dean shift on the edge of the bed. I decide to move the pillow from my view and watch, Dean doesn't look so good.

"Look, Dean, you're leaving – right? And I gotta stay here in this craphole of a world. So the way I see it, if I'm gonna make it, if I'm gonna fight this war after you're gone, then I gotta change."

Dean is clutching his stomach now, "Change into what?

Sam isn't even looking at Dean, not really anyway. "Into you. I gotta be more like you."

Dean shakes his head but his face instantly changes, he's leaning farther over himself now – hand still clutched around his stomach. "Ah!" he cries out.

I immediately sit up; nearly launching myself off the bed I kneel down in front of him. "Dean?"

"Son of a bitch- something's wrong- bunch of knives inside of me- "Dean chokes out.

"Dean, hey." I instinctively reach my hand up placing it on his cheek, strumming my thumb back and forth softly.

"The coven, it's gotta be the coven." Sam gets up and rushes into the bathroom, opening the cupboards below the sink looking for a hex bag.

I leave Dean to start going through all the drawers in the main area, tossing them onto the floor as I go. "Sam, I'm not finding anything!" I cry out desperately.

Dean falls forward onto his knees at the foot of the bed, spitting out blood, choking and sputtering trying to get air. Sam and I keep searching for the hex bag but are having no luck. Sam tosses me a knife, I flick it open and we start ripping the sheets off of each bed before tearing into the mattresses with our blades. _Nothing._

I can feel tears brimming in my eyes but I need to stay calm and in control, for Dean. Sam jogs over to his bag, rummaging through it pulling out the Colt; he opens it checking for bullets. Dean is still on the floor coughing blood onto the carpet, a little more weakly now. "Sam, what are you doing?" but he doesn't answer me, he just moves toward the door. "Sam!" He leaves closing the door behind him.

"Sam!" I cry out as Dean continues to groan in pain.

"Elena…" Dean manages to croak out.

I look to him and run, nearly sliding to the ground. I pick up his head and place it in my lap, stroking his hair as he continues to cough blood. "I'm here Dean. I'm here."

"I-I'm s-sorry."

"Dean, don't talk, save your strength. You need to hold on as long as possible."

Dean coughs again and I can feel it racking through his entire body. He reaches up and touches my face with his blood covered hand, "No. I'm sorry."

I can't hold back the tears anymore, they free fall down my cheeks.

"Hey." Dean strokes my face. "Don't cry."

"What are you even sorry for?" I gasp out in between sobs.

Our conversation is cut off by the door being kicked open, Ruby steps into the room looking intently at Dean and I. Dean lowers his hand from my face and forces himself to sit up a tiny bit, "You wanna kill me? Get in line bitch."

Ruby's eyes flash black, she stomps over to us grabbing Dean out of my lap by his collar and tossing him on the bed. I scramble to my feet but it's all happening so fast, she leans over him and forces his mouth open with her left hand, all the while Dean is trying to push her away. Ruby reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bag, placing it in her mouth she rips off the top and sprays the contents into Dean's mouth - its dark brown and smells terrible. Dean is struggling under Ruby's grasp choking on the liquid spitting some back out in the process.

"Stop, calling me bitch." Ruby pants raising herself off of Dean.

I bend over and grab a towel from the floor and hand it to Dean who has risen to a sitting position.

"Next time you point that gun at me, I'm not gonna just disappear, understand?"

"You saved my life." Dean points out; his face is mostly clean of blood and whatever that liquid brown 'cure' is.

"Don't mention it."

"What was that stuff? God, it was ass. It tasted like ass."

"It's called witchcraft, short bus." Ruby tosses over her shoulder as she begins to walk out of the room.

I giggle but Dean looks like he just got slapped, "You're the short bus….short bus."

I look to the table next to us and pick up one of the sawed off shotguns on the table, tossing it to Dean."Let's go get Sam."

* * *

We waste no time, once we pull up to the home of the coven we jump out of the car we "borrowed" and burst through the front door, guns aimed and ready to fire. Tammi turns around and with the flick of her wrist she sends us both flying over the sofa and into the wall, pining us there. She looks to Sam and then back to us "Three for the price of one. Lovely."

Ruby's voice cuts into the room, "Wait." She walks in, hands raised in surrender. "I just came to talk."

"You made it out of the gate. Impressive." Tammi remarks. "What do you want, Ruby?"

"I've been lost without you." Ruby advances cautiously towards Tammi. "Take me back. That's why I led the Winchesters and that other one here. They're for you, as a gift."

Tammi raises and eye brow uncertainly, "Really?"

Ruby is now face to face with the eldest demon, "Let me serve you again. I've wanted it – I've wanted _you_ – for so long.

"You were one of my best."

Ruby and Tammi look at each other, but I can see Ruby's hand moving behind her back. She pulls out a knife and tries to stab Tammi but she catches it mid-air.

"But then again, you always were a lying whore." Tammi throws the knife to the side, causing it to mistakenly land close to me.

"If we get free you get that to me, understand?" Dean whispers to me, I nod in response.

Tammi throws Ruby into the TV but it doesn't stop her, she kicks Tammi in the stomach and tries to run past her. Tammi throws Ruby by her jacket into a bookcase causing it to crash down around her. "Come on. Get up!"

Ruby is panting but not moving, blood pooling out of her nose.

"I said, get up!" Tammi bellows.

When Ruby doesn't move Tammi leans over and pulls her up, "We've been here before. Haven't we."

Tammi looks to us and chuckles, "Pretty mortifying I guess. She was one of mine. I turned her out a long, long time ago. Ruby here was a witch. Of course that was when you were human."

The shock across our faces is unanimous, so Tammi continues. "Didn't want your friends to know that all those centuries back you sold yourself to me? Embarrassing, I guess. But don't worry love, no secrets where you're heading remember?"

Tammi tosses Ruby back down onto the debris of the book case and starts to chant, " _Monyé valack forsa, ulu iri regatt ruac,_ " Black smoke rises out of Ruby's mouth as she chokes, it's curling and hovering inches above her mouth. " _fieesh nieesh forthsa lé inmist infirum forthsa por un betest a té un fornalles ecclaisee –_ "

Tammi stops chanting as she begins to cough. Elizabeth, who to be honest I didn't even realize was here, is chanting under her breath at the altar. As Tammi coughs harder, the three of us are dropped from our holding spaces on the wall, before we can do anything Elizabeth's breath catches, her eyes go wide and she falls onto the altar, dead.

The sight of this woman who had risked her life to help us, dead, sparks a fire in me like no other. I reach beside me and grab Ruby's knife, rising to my feet I take two steps and wrap my arm around Tammi's chest. With one swift motion I stab her in the back with the knife, I remove the knife and stab her again. Her entire body glows and flickers orange from the inside out before going limp in my grasp. Breathing heavily I release her body and she slumps to the floor, knife still in her back.

"Go." Ruby instructs wiping the blood from her mouth. "I'll clean up this mess."

I don't move, I just stare at the body on the ground in front of me. I feel Dean's arm slip through mine as he whispers in my ear, "Come on."

We start to walk to the door but I stop once more and look back to Ruby. Her eyes turn black and she glares at us, "Go!"

* * *

The crisp night air nips at my skin; I run my hands over my bare arms. _Should've grabbed a jacket._ I hear our room door open and close behind me. I look up to see Dean standing above me extending a hand, "C'mon."

I take his hand and rise from the curb. He slips off his leather jacket, reaching around he places it over my shoulders. "It's cold out here. Don't need you getting sick."

"Thanks." I push my arms through the sleeves, it's big on me but it's warm so I pull it tightly around myself.

"So you wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" I ask playing dumb.

"You know what, Lena. You killed that demon."

"She killed Elizabeth. I mean we were going to kill her anyway right?"

"You aren't ready for that." Dean says with a sigh.

"Obviously I am." I spit out, standing my ground.

"That's not how I meant it. We just hadn't let you try yet." Dean pauses for a short moment before continuing, "You did great." He voice was filled with what I could only describe as pride.

I look up at him with a smile spreading across my lips.

Out of nowhere the lights begin to flicker; we both look around and our gaze falls on Ruby, standing in the shadows of the parking lot.

"So the devil may care after all, is that what I'm supposed to believe?" Dean asks

Ruby shrugs, "I don't believe in the devil."

I step off the curb and walk towards her. "So, you were human once, you died, you went to hell, and you became…this."

"Yeah." Ruby says turning to leave.

"How long ago?" Dean calls after her.

Ruby doesn't turn back around, "Back when the plague was big."

"So every demon, was human once?"

"Everyone I've ever met." Ruby replies as she turns back to us.

"Well, they sure don't act like it." Dean scoffs.

"Most of them have forgotten what it means, or even that they were. That's what happens when you go to Hell, Dean. That's what Hell is – forgetting what you are. There's a real fire in the pit. Agonies you can't even imagine."

"No, I saw 'Hellraiser'. I got the gist." Dean responds in a joking manner.

Ruby smirks and starts to walk away again but abruptly stops and turns back, "Actually they got that pretty close. Except for all the custom leather. And the answer is yes, by the way."

Dean cocks his head, "I'm sorry?"

"Yes, the same thing will happen to you. It might take centuries, but sooner or later Hell will burn away your humanity. Every Hell-bound soul, every one, turns into something else. Turns you into us. So yeah, you can count on it"

It feels like the breath I'm sucking in is ice, sharp down my throat but I ask anyway. "There's no way of saving him is there."

Ruby sighs, "No."

The fire is building inside me burning away that icy feeling, "Then why did you tell Sam that you could?

"So he would talk to me. You Winchesters can be pretty bigoted. I needed something to help him get past the demon thing."

"Why are you telling us all this?"

"Because I need your help."

"Help with what?"

"With Sam. The way you stuck that demon tonight Elena– it was pretty tough. Sam's almost there, but not quite. Which if you think about it, is kind of funny, considering you're new to all of this. But I need you both to help me get him ready – for life without you, Dean."

Ruby starts to walk away again but stops short when Dean calls out, "Why do you want us to win?"

Turning around once more she cocks her head, "Isn't it obvious? I'm not like them. I don't know why. I – I wish I was, but ... I'm not. I remember what it's like, being human."

I look to Dean who is looking down clearly lost in his own thoughts, when I look up again Ruby is gone and we are alone. "Dean."

He looks up from the ground, his eyes looking directly into mine. "She doesn't know everything. There could still be a way."

"Yeah." He whispers. "I'm gonna, uh- I'll be in the room." He turns and walks to the motel room door, the lock quietly clicking behind him.

Once he's out of sight I crumple to the pavement, a wreck, sobs wracking my body harder with each breath. For the first time since I met the Winchesters, I now truly fear that there may not be a way to save Dean... and I don't know if I can live with that.


	8. Denial. Denial. Truth.

_February 8, 2008._

The amount of peculiar objects that are hanging on the walls of this bar is insurmountable; my gaze drifts around the room before I knock back a shot – whiskey – Dean's choice of course. The alcohol burns my throat after I swallow. The clink of my empty glass on the bar catches Dean's attention; he flags down the bartender and orders me another.

"My tolerance has gone wayyyy up since I met you, Dean Winchester." The words tumble out of my mouth only slightly slurred.

Dean cocks his head and laughs, "Yeah?" He leans close to me and whispers in my ear. "So does this mean I have to ply you with more alcohol?"

"Who says you would need to?" I whisper back, with a sly smile.

Dean pulls back with a giant grin on his face, taking a swig from his glass.

Dean has been, to my enjoyment, more vocal about his _true_ thoughts ever since his near death experience with the coven.

"What? Where?" I hear Sam ask into the phone behind us. Dean and I both turn around to look at him as he smacks his phone shut.

"It's Bobby."

* * *

Bobby is lying motionless in the hospital bed, no outwardly visible signs of an attack. The doctor is standing on the side of the bed opposite of the three of us.

"So, what's the diagnosis?" Sam asks.

"We've tested everything we can think to test. He seems perfectly healthy." The doctor explains.

"Except that he's comatose." Dean responds starkly.

"Mr. Snyderson, you're his emergency contact. Anything we should know? Any illnesses?"

Dean shakes his head, "No, he-he never gets sick. I mean, he doesn't even catch colds."

I reach out and touch Bobby's warm hand, "Doctor, is there anything you can do?"

The doctors' mouth falls into a tiny frown, "Look, I'm sorry, but we don't know what's causing it... so we don't know how to treat it. He just... went to sleep, and didn't wake up."

* * *

Sam pushes the door to Bobby's motel room open and we make our way inside. "So what was Bobby doing in Pittsburgh? I mean, he must have been working a job, right?"

Being the last one in, I shut the door behind me. Looking around the room I notice it's pretty, plain and bare - not what you'd expect from a hunter, especially Bobby. "If he was working a case, you'd think there'd be something here right?"

Dean nodded while rummaged through drawers, "Research, news clippings, a frigging pizza box or a beer can! Something."

I begin to sift through the papers on the table finding nothing of use. Sam walks to the closet and turns on the light, "How bout this?" He parts the clothes to the sides revealing the wall behind covered in news clippings, maps, photos plants and mushrooms, the word 'Pittsburgh' written in big bold letters, along with post it notes with address and numbers scribbled onto them.

Dean chuckles, "Good ol' Bobby, always covering up his tracks." He reaches up, plucks one of the papers from the wall and begins to read. "" _Silene capensis_ ", which of course means absolutely nothing to me."

Sam rips another object from the wall handing it to me, "Here. Obit."

I take it looking it over quickly before reading aloud. "Dr. Walter Gregg, 64, university neurologist."

"How'd he bite it?" Dean asks.

Scanning the page I find the answer, "Um…actually, they don't know. They say he just went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Dean stops and looks at Sam and me, "That sound familiar to you?"

"All right, um... So let's say Bobby was looking into the doc's death. You know, hunting after something that started hunting him." Sam states.

"All right, Sammy you stay here. See if you can make heads or tails of this. Elena you're with me."

"What are you two gonna do?" Sam asks.

"We're gonna look into the good doctor."

* * *

Dr. Gregg's office is disheveled; books and boxes are cluttering the office like they're already packing up his things.

"So you're Dr. Gregg's lab assistant, Ms. Sanders?" Dean asks.

"That's right." Sanders replies.

I see a book on the doctor's desk titled ' _Waking Dreams_ ' and raise an eyebrow before asking, "Dr. Gregg studied sleeping disorders? Dreams, correct?"

"Yes - I don't understand. I went over all of this with the other detective."

Dean's eyebrows rise swiftly, "You already spoke to another detective?"

Ms. Sanders nods, "Yes. A very nice older man with a beard."

I look to Dean who raises his eyebrows acknowledging my look, "Well I'd love to hear it again if you don't mind."

"Thing is, I'm sort of busy. Maybe we could do this later?"

I step forward and keep my tone sweet but stern, "Yeah, sure. We'll come by later and bring you down to the station, get your statement on tape, do it all official like."

Her eyes widen, giving in. "Look, okay, I didn't know about Dr. Gregg's experiments. Not until I was cleaning out his files."

"His experiments on…sleeping?" Dean asks.

Ms. Sanders babbles on, "No one knew, okay? Not the university, not anybody. I already spoke with a lawyer and he told me I can't be held liable for anything."

"Maybe you couldn't, but that was before the new evidence came to light." Dean throws out quickly.

"New evidence? What new evidence.?"

Thinking fast I respond, "We're not at liberty to say."

She sighs, defeated, "Look, I'm just a grad student. This was a gig to cover tuition."

"That may be so but, uh - " I stop for only a moment and pull an excuse out of my ass. " -this could go on your permanent record. Unless you give us the entirety of the doctor's research. Now."

She goes behind Dr. Greggs desk and lifts a box from the ground before thrusting it into Dean's arms.

"Thank you. We really appreciate your cooperation." I tell her as we exit the office and head to the elevator.

"She was a ball of sunshine." Dean says sarcastically as the elevator door creaks open and we step inside.

He looks to me with a snarky grin on his face, "Permanent record?"

"Shut up." I laugh and shove his shoulder; catching him off guard, he drops the box. My eyes go wide with the thud that wracks the elevator. Dean looks up to me, eyes gleaming.

"You little shit," Dean laughs. Without even blinking he pushes me back against the elevator wall, pinning my arms at my side.

My breath hitches as he whispers into my ear, his breath hot against my skin. "You know, I don't know why I'm fighting my feelings for you Lena."

"Me neither." I whisper back.

Dean moves downward, nipping at my neck and causing a quiet moan to escape my lips. The elevator dings as we reach the first floor, Dean releases his grip on me and picks up the box. "Let's go." He says with a grin stepping out of the elevator.

I stand there for a moment trying to catch my breath, "Son of a bitch." I mumble under my breath. The elevator doors start to close causing me to run out after him.

* * *

"This room?" Dean asks.

I look down at the file from the box of Dr. Greggs things and nod. "Yes."

Dean knocks on the door, moments later it swings open. We both hold up our badges and without a word the man behind the door lets us inside.

"Look, I don't know what the RA said, but, ah, I was growing ferns." He spits out quickly.

"Take it easy." Dean chuckles, "That's not why we're here."

"Really?" He asks still obviously wary.

I wiggle the folder in my hands.

"Oh, thank god." He sighs relieved.

"We wanted to talk to you about the sleep study. You were one of the test subjects right?"

He turns to his mini fridge pulling out three beers, offering one to each of us. "Yeah I was. I'm Jeremy."

I look at the bottles in his hand but don't reach to take one; neither does Dean – at first.

"Unless you're on duty or, whatever." Jeremy shrugs.

Dean eyes the bottle once more before taking it, "I guess I can make an exception."

"I'm fine. Thanks." I smile politely.

Jeremy grabs a bottle opener off his desk, he pops his then passes it to Dean who repeats the action. They lift their beers to each other and both take a swig. Dean closes his eyes and I giggle, "Enjoying that?"

He looks and me giving a small smile before clearing his throat and continuing. "Now, Dr. Gregg was testing treatments for a, uh, " _Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome_ "? Which means...?"

"I uh… can't dream. I had this bike accident when I was a kid and banged my head pretty good and I haven't had a dream since. Till the study. You know. Sort of."

"What'd the doc give you?"

"It's this yellow tea. It smelled awful, tasted worse." Jeremy wrinkles his nose in disgust at the sheer memory.

"What did it do?" I ask pressing further.

"Just passed right out. And uh, I had the most vivid, super-intense dream. Like a bad acid trip, you know?"

"Totally." Dean responds cheerfully.

"No." I respond at the same time over lapping him.

My answer helps Dean remember that he's in character and he quickly changes his answer, "I mean, no. No."

"That was it. I dropped out of the study right after that. I didn't... like it. To tell you the truth... it kind of scared me."

I close the folder in my hands, "Well thank you so much for your time. We'll be in touch."

* * *

The hospital room is pretty quiet, with the exception of the constant beeping of Bobby's machine's that are keeping him alive. Dean lets me sit in the chair next to Bobby's bed since it's the only chair in the room; he stands behind me, watching over the both of us.

Sam enters the room almost silently but I still hear him, tilting my head around I see his tall frame standing next to his brother.

"How is he?" Sam asked.

Dean rubs his hand over his chin, by now I know it's his sign of anxiety, but I don't let him know that I notice. "No change. What you got?"

He steps forward to show us both what he's found, "Well, considering what you told me about the doc's experiments…Bobby's wall is starting to make a hell of a lot more sense."

"How so?"

Sam holds up a picture of a plant from the folder, "This plant, Silene capensis, is also known as African Dream Root? It's been used by shaman and medicine men for centuries."

"Let me guess. They dose up, bust out the didgeridoos, and start kicking around the hackey." Dean jokes dryly.

Sam holds up one finger and waggles it before sifting through the papers, reading from one. "Not quite. If you believe the legends, it's used for dream walking. I mean, entering another person's dreams, poking around in their heads."

"I take it we believe the legends." I question a little skeptically.

Sam and Dean both look at me, "When don't we?" Sam asks rhetorically. "But dream walking is just the tip of the iceberg."

"What do you mean?"

Shuffling the papers around once more, Sam reveals a drawing of some kind, "I mean this Dream Root is some serious mojo. You take enough of it, with practice - you can become a regular Freddy Krueger. You can control anything. You could turn bad dreams good; you could turn good dreams bad."

"Oh like killing people in their sleep, for example?" I guess aloud.

Sam nods.

" _That's just…awesome._ " The sarcasm dripping off my words.

"So let's say uh, let's say this doc was testing this stuff on his patients, Tim Leary-style. Somebody gets pissed at him, decides to give him a little dream visit, and he goes nighty-night." Dean hypothesizes.

I turn my head to Bobby, the look on my face solemn. "But what about Bobby? I mean, if the killer came after him, how is he still alive?"

"I don't know." Sam answers honestly. "But we'll figure it out."

"So how do we find our homicidal sandman?" Dean injects, obviously eager to get back to work.

"It could be anyone." I reply turning back to them. "Anyone who knew the doctor probably had access to the dream shrooms. So maybe one of his test subjects?"

"Possible. But his research was pretty sketchy. I mean… I don't know how many subjects he had, or who all of them were."

Dean says and Sam scoffs lightly. Dean looks to him and grumbles, "What?"

"On any other case, we'd be calling Bobby and asking him for help right now." He points out with a sad sigh.

My nose wrinkles as I think and it hits me, "Let's go talk to him then!"

"What?" they respond in unison.

Sam shakes his head, "Elena, I think we might find that the conversation is a little one-sided."

I reach down and snatch my purse off the chair, "Not if we're tripping on some Dream Root."

I move toward the door but stop when I realize they aren't following me. I turn back to them, their faces thoroughly baffled. "What?"

Dean is the first to break the silence between them, "You wanna take a dream walk in Bobby's head?"

"Yeah. Why not?" I adjust my purse over my arm nervous my idea is a little too farfetched, "Maybe we could help."

"That's actually not a completely terrible idea." Sam says with a shrug.

"Thank you, Sam."

"We have no idea what's crawling around in his head right now." Dean protests.

"Dude, its Bobby." Sam adds.

Dean shakes his head, "You're right, you're both right. One problem though. We're fresh out of African Dream Root, so unless you know someone who can score some..."

"Well…" Sam says with a slight tilt of his head. We all exchange looks and I know we're all dreading the same thing.

* * *

This motel room isn't as bad as some of the ones we've been in. Sam has fallen asleep sitting at the desk, his head rested on his arm, normally I'd tell him to lie down but it's been a long day and I don't feel like arguing with a grumpy giant. After grabbing the magazine I picked up from the store I flop onto the nearest bed. I rolled onto my side and snuggled under the top blanket and open the magazine, flipping quietly through.

The creak of the bathroom door draws my attention; Dean shuts it softly so he's not to wake Sam. He grabs the remote to the TV and lies down on top of the covers beside me. Turning the TV on low he begins to flip through the channels, he finds something to sate him because the clicking of the buttons cease. I feel Dean's fingers find my hair, running through it gently, over and over. No words are spoken as we lie there together, I don't stop him, I say nothing with my voice, but my body has other plans. I love getting my hair played with and by Dean it's even better. My back arches against him slightly, causing a small chuckle to escape his lips.

"Like that Lena?"

" _Mhhmm"_ I purr.

He chuckles again and continues the motions; I can feel myself nodding off but am immediately awoken by a knock at the door.

Sam nearly jumps out of the chair at the knocking.

"Woah, Sammy you okay?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, yeah." He responds quickly running his hands through his hair smoothing it back into place. "Who's at the door?"

Dean raises his eyebrows and lifts himself from the bed; I do the same pulling the top blanket back into its original place.

Dean grabs the handle yanking the door open quickly, "Bela. As I live and breathe."

Bela waltz into the room, bag over her arm with a smile. "You called me, remember?"

"Wasn't sure if you would actually show."

Bela turns to us, "Hello Elena. Sam."

"Hey." I mumble.

"Oh Elena, still mad at me, are you?" Bela pouts.

I cross my arms over my chest and eye her cautiously, "Until you prove yourself, yeah. Pretty much."

"Well today might just be my _lucky_ day." She giggles throwing a wink my way. "I brought the African Dream Root. Nasty stuff and not easy to come by."

Dean takes the jar from Bela's hands, eyeballing it warily. "I wanna know what the strings are for this before you attach them."

"You said this was for Bobby Singer, right?" Bela asks and Dean nods.

"Well, I'm doing it for him. Not you."

"Bobby? Why?"

"He saved my life once. In Flagstaff. I screwed up and he saved me and I want to help him any way that I can." Bela admits. When none of us say anything she claps her hands together and continues. "So when do we go on this little magical mystery tour?"

I laugh out loud, "You're not going _anywhere_ near Bobby's head. You brought us the Dream Root. You helped. Now leave." I walk to the door and open it for her to let her ass out.

"Where am I supposed to go? It's 2am!" She whines.

"Get a room. Ah, they got the Magic Fingers, a little Casa Erotica on pay-per-view. You'll love it." Dean chimes in my efforts.

"You three… ugh." Bela storms out of the room; the door follows her with a slam.

* * *

Sam walks over to us and hands us each a mug with Dream Root inside.

"Tell me again why you're not coming with us?" Dean questions taking the mug from his brother.

"Because Dean, someone needs to watch over you guys while you're under. Besides it's good for Elena to be exposed to all kinds of things." Sam responds.

"Well let's do this." I say raising my mug to my lips.

"Wait, wait, wait." Sam cries out jutting his hand over the top of my cup. "Can't forget this." He pulls out a tiny manila envelope from his shirt pocket, pulling out whatever is inside; he drops a bit into each of our cups.

Dean eyes his mug suspiciously, "What the hell is that?"

"Bobby's hair."

Dean and I both turn our gaze up to Sam in blatant confusion.

"We have to drink Bobby's hair?" The disgust on my face apparent.

"That's how you control whose dream you're entering. You gotta ... drink some of their uh... some of their body." Sam confesses.

Dean looks at his glass once more before raising his glass to me. "Bottom's up, Lena."

"Yeah." I clink my glass to his and we drink. I dry heave, trying to hold down the feeling of wanting to puke. "That was disgusting."

Dean swallows loudly, smacking his lips in distaste. "Feel anything?"

"No. You?"

"No."

"Maybe we got some bad shwag." Dean jokes looking into his mug.

Suddenly the sound of thunder hits my ears followed by the pitter patter of rain on the window. "When did it start raining?"

Dean gets up from the bed and walks to the window, drawing the curtains back he looks out. "When did it start raining upside down?"

Raising myself from the bed I meet him at the window, "It's raining from the ground up…that's new." With Dean still occupied with the upside down rain I turn around but the room has completely changed, we're no longer in the motel but in a living room. "Uh, Dean. Where are we?"

Dean turns around and takes in the room, "Wait a sec, imagine the place without the paint job, more cluttered with books all over the place."

Taking a longer look I figure it out, I've been here a few times over the past few months. "It's Bobby's house."

Dean nods and calls out, "Bobby?"

"Dean I'm going to look outside."

"No, no, no, you stay close." He protests with a shake of his head.

"I'll be fine. Look around in here; we need to find him, the sooner the better."

Dean takes one step and he's within kissing distance but instead he places his hand on my cheek, "Be careful, please."

"I will. I promise." I reassure him.

Dean lowers his hand and makes his way down the hall as I head to the front door; grabbing the handle I pull the door open.

Outside is bright and dry - unlike what we saw through the window just moments ago. There are flowers covering the garden and birds chirping in the air. The well-manicured walkway is also lined with flowers; it's bright and beautiful causing me to smile. I cross the threshold outside and the front door suddenly slams shut behind me. The loud smack makes me jump, turning around I reach for the handle jiggling it, but somehow it's now locked and definitely won't budge. "Dean!"

Walking swiftly to the window I look inside and see Dean walking down the hall, banging on the wall I cry out again, "Dean!" but he doesn't hear me he just keeps walking. Frustrated I throw my hands to my sides and turn back to the yard. I descend down the front steps and into the yard, there are freshly washed sheets flowing in the breeze, the clean smell invading my senses. Gingerly I walk through them looking around but before I can make any headway I feel something heavy crack against my back and I crumble to the ground.

I lie there motionless because if I even try to move pain sears through my shoulder. I force myself to reach up and cradle it gently and have to grit my teeth through the pain. When a shadow falls over me and I look up to the figure above me. "Jeremy?"

He lowers the bat in his grip slightly, "You don't belong here."

"You're one to talk. You're in my friend's head!"

"You got a poor choice in friends. This is self-defense. He came after me. He wanted to hurt me."

"Uh, maybe because you're a psycho killer?!" I scream at him.

"You should be nicer to me. In here, you're just an insect. I'm a _god_." Jeremy retorts taking a step closer to me. He raises the bat high over his head, ready to strike down on me. "Sweet dreams."

I cover my head with my good arm as he starts to swing down hard. But there's no impact, I'm jolted back to the hotel room panting, my shoulder though is still killing me.

Dean is awake too as Sam rushes over to us. "You okay?"

"Fucked up my shoulder." I wince out as I sit up.

"Sam, go get some of Stefan's blood." Dean commands his younger brother.

Sam rushes into the other room to retrieve the blood as Dean gets on his knees in front of me, "Hey you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay but Dean; it's that Jeremy kid from Dr. Greggs study. He's the one behind this."

* * *

Back at the hospital Bobby is awake, healthy as a horse, telling us everything. "If it wasn't for you I'd still be lost in there. Or dead. Thank you."

Bobby looks to me and smiles, "And thank you for the idea, Elena. I'm not sure how these two idjits got on before you."

I can't help but laugh, "I'm not entirely sure either."

"Hey, hey. We got along just fine." Dean stops and looks at me. "But now we're better."

I smile at him whole heartedly because that means more than anything in the world to me.

Sam walks into the room, "So stoner boy wasn't in his dorm. My guess is he's long gone by now."

"He ain't a stoner, more like full on genius. Hundred-and-sixty IQ. Which is sayin' something, considering his dad took a baseball bat to his head." Bobby fishes out a picture from the file and hands it to Dean. "Here's father of the year. He died before Jeremy was 10."

Sam looks at the photo and frowns, "Looks like a real sweetheart."

"The injury gave him Charcot-Wilbrand. Hadn't dreamt until he started dosing the dream drug."

"How'd he know how to dig up your worst nightmare and throw it at you?"

Bobby shrugged, "He was rooting around in my skull. God knows what he saw in there."

"Bobby how did he get there in the first place? Isn't he supposed to have some of your DNA or something?" I ask gingerly.

"Yeahhhh. 'Fore I knew it was him, he offered me a beer. I drank it. Dumbest frigging thing."

I can feel my eyes bugging out of my head, turning to look at Dean I can see his are the same, he chuckles nervously, "Oh, I don't know. It wasn't _that_ dumb."

"Dean, you didn't." Sam sighs.

"I was thirsty!"

"No you weren't! You wanted to look cool! Damn it, Dean. Now he can get either one of you." I exclaim wiggling my finger back and forth between him and Bobby.

"Well we better work fast and coffee up. Because the one thing we cannot do is fall asleep." Bobby warns.

* * *

_February 10, 2008_

Our first day in this town sucked, and now that we've been here two more, I hate it. Dean's behind the wheel, Sam next to him and I'm in the backseat – per usual.

"I mean, this Jeremy guy's not a friggin' ghost. Where the hell could he be?" Dean sputters out exasperated, clearly pissed over the whole situation.

Sam looks over at his brother, choosing his word careful before speaking, "Dean, you sure you don't want me to drive? You seem a little…caffeinated."

Dean looks over to him eyes wild, "Well, thanks for the news flash, Edison!" His cell phone begins to ring. Taking one hand off the wheel, he fishes in his pocket with the other to fumble and retrieve it, mumbling under his breath in frustration until he finally gets it and flips it open - hard.

"Tell me you got something!" ...

"What the hell Bobby!" ...

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just… I'm-I'm tired." ...

"What's Bela got?" ...

"Great! Well, I'm just gonna go blow my brains out now!"

He slams his phone shut and throws it into his lap before he hits the steering-wheel grunting angrily for good measure.

"Dean." I whisper his name fiercely.

"What." He growls.

" _Enough_."

He looks at me in the rear view, anger filling his eyes. Quickly he averts them to the road and veers the Impala off the main road and onto a side one. Once we reach a clearing he cuts the engine and slides down in his seat slightly.

I undo my seat beat and lean forward, "What are you doing?"

"Taking a long-overdue nap." He replies, eyes shut tight.

"What?! Dean, are you insane? Jeremy can come after you!" I practically screech.

Dean pops one eye open and looks at me, "That's the idea."

"Excuse me?" Sam and I ask together.

"We can't find him, so let him come to me." Dean responds opening both eyes this time.

"On his own turf where he's basically a god?" Sam leans back against the seat, running his hands through his hair, _his_ tell of stress.

"I can handle it."

"Not alone, you can't."

I jut my arm forward and yank out some of Dean's hair.

" _Ow!"_ He cries out rubbing his head. "What are you doing?"

"We're coming with you." I state matter-of-factly.

"No, you're not."

"How are you going to stop me, hmm?"

"It would be three against one. Decent odds." Sam chimes in.

"Fine jesus. Mix the shit up." Dean slides back down defeated.

My eyes flutter open to darkness; I'm still in the backseat of the Impala. I'm sitting upright and can see that Sam and Dean are still asleep so I place a hand on each of them and shake, "Sam, Dean, wake up."

Sam starts to stir but Dean doesn't so I shake harder. "Dean!"

"For the love of God!" Dean groans waking up. He looks around then through the front windshield. "What are we still doing here?"

Sam rubs his eyes before responding, "I have no idea."

My hearing picks up rustling outside the car, "Someone's out there."

Our doors slam loudly in the quiet forest as we exit Baby. "I think it's coming from that direction." Sam points to the left.

We all take a few steps in the direction of the noise, I see something moving slowly in the trees, one more move clears my vision. "It's Jeremy."

Sam sees him and takes off running, Dean and I are right behind him bobbing in between the trees trying to avoid getting hit by stray branches, but after a few minutes of running I lose Sam, so does Dean but we keep running anyway. Dean stops first, holding out his arm to stop me as well. He turns around and I follow his line of sight, the woods have turned into wallpaper. We're now in a hallway with doors on both ends.

"Okay…" Dean decides to move forward to the door in front of us. As he reaches for the handle, the door begins to open slowly by itself. We stop and watch as it glides open to reveal the motel room we've been staying in. We step inside slowly and I hear a constant clicking, over and over. There's a man sitting in the chair at the desk. The clicking noise is coming from the mystery person flicking the desk lamp on and off over and over.

"Jeremy?" Dean asks.

We take a few steps closer and it stops flicking the switch, it stays on. I realize who it is, "Dean…"

"What?"

The man pushes the chair back and stands up facing us. "Hey, Dean."

Dean seeing a dream version of himself stand before his catches him off guard, me as well. "Well, aren't you a handsome son of a gun." He forces a smile.

"We need to talk."

Dean begins to walk in a circle around the room, Dream Dean follows suit and I just step back and watch the whole thing unfold.

"I get it. I get it." Dean nods. "I'm my own worst nightmare, is that it? Huh? Kind of like the Superman III junkyard scene? A little mano y mano with myself?"

"Joke all you want, smart-ass. But you can't lie to me. I know the truth."

They both stop, they've traded places, Dean is now by the desk and Dream Dean is near me by the door.

"I know how dead you are inside." Dream Dean cocks his head slightly. "How worthless you feel. I know how you look into a mirror... and hate what you see."

I can hear my Dean swallow all the way from here. "Sorry, pal. It's not gonna work. You're not real." He says with a smile.

"Sure I am. I'm you."

"I don't think so. 'Cause see, this is my siesta. Not yours." Dean raises his hand. "All I gotta do is snap my fingers and you go bye-bye."

He snaps his fingers once and nothing happens. The smile on his face dissipates and he snaps again, nothing's happening. He snaps a few more times before giving up and letting his arm fall back down to his side.

Dream Dean gives him an I-told-you-so type nod. "I'm not going anywhere. Neither are you."

The door slams shut beside me and locks. I reach for the handle on the door trying to turn it. Before messing with the lock and trying again. I run over and position myself beside Dean, refusing to leave him alone in this. "Dean we're stuck..."

Dream Dean's face is now completely void of all emotion, "Like I said," He raises his arm which now holds a sawed-off shotgun. "we need to talk." He takes a step towards us, "You're going to hell and you won't lift a finger to stop it. Talk about low self-esteem. Then again, I guess it's not much of a life worth saving, now is it?" he chuckles to himself as he begins circling the room once more.

Dean follows and I try but he holds me back, "No."

"Yes." I growl. He gives in and we move.

Dream Dean continues, "I mean, after, all you've got nothing outside of Sam. Well… you have _Lena_ here now but how long do you think she's going to stick around?

"You have no idea what you're talking about." I spit out.

He ignores me and keeps going, "You are nothing, Dean. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog."

Dean smiles, but I know he's only trying to brave it out, "That's not true."

We stop moving and we're back in our original spots. "No? What are the things that you want? What are the things that you dream? I mean, your car? That's Dad's. Your favorite leather jacket? Dad's. Your music? Dad's. Do you even have an original thought?"

Dean scoffs at his other self, not wanting to admit anything.

"No. No, all there is is, "Watch out for Sammy. Look out for your little brother, boy!" You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you?" Dream Dean takes the sawed-off and motions to his head. "Clear as a bell."

"Just shut up."

He lowers the gun but doesn't stop, "I mean think about it all he ever did was train you, boss you around." He takes two large steps towards us and now they're face to face. "But Sam…Sam he doted on. Sam, he loved."

"I mean it. You're pissing me off." Dean grunts out.

"Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument." Dream Dean is done playing nice and starts to yell, "Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?"

"Son of a bitch!" Dean growls shoving himself hard into the wall next to the desk. I can't move. I'm frozen watching the whole scene unfold.

"My father was an obsessed bastard!" Dream Dean tries to get up but Dean kicks him back down, grabbing the shotgun he uses it as a bat swinging and hitting him once. He lifts his dream self up and uses the shotgun to pin him to the wall, "All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam! That was _his_ crap. _He's_ the one who couldn't protect _his_ family. _He's_ the one who let Mom die." He releases Dream Dean's neck and cracks him twice more before pinning him again. " _He's_ the one who wasn't there for Sam. _I_ always was! He wasn't fair! _I_ didn't deserve what _he_ put on me. And _I_ don't deserve to go to Hell!" Dean backs away and shoots his other self twice in the chest, lowering the gun he looks at the mess before him. Dream Dean's eyes are closed, his face blood covered.

"Dean…" I whisper.

He turns to me and rushes into my arms laying his head on my chest, his breathing uneven. I wrap my arms around him and stroke his hair, whispering quietly in his ear. "It's okay. It's okay."

Out of the corner of my eye I notice a slight movement. Nudging Dean he uncurls his arms from me and turns to face his other self. He steps closer to him, inspecting him, making sure he's really dead. Right when he's close his eyes flash open and they're black. Dean hurriedly takes a step back as Dream Dean starts to speak, his voice hard and angry. "You can't escape me, Dean. You're gonna die. And this? This is what you're gonna become!"

He rises from the ground and Dean retreats back to me, wrapping his arm around my waist, knowing he has a grip on something real. Demon Dean disappears instantly.

"What the hell?"

I'm waking up gasping for air; I'm back in the Impala. Sam and Dean wake up moments after I do. We're all breathing heavily trying to regain ourselves. Dean looks at his brother, then to me, saying nothing he starts Baby and hits the gas.

* * *

Sam took the Impala to get Bobby from the hospital so Dean and I were left alone in the room.

"Lena." Dean called from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" I call back as I slip out of my boots.

Dean steps back into the room, and clears his throat before speaking. "I've been doing some thinking, and... Well, the thing is... I don't wanna die."

I step toward him, my socked feet padding on the carpet.

"I don't wanna go to hell."

"I _know_ Dean. We're going to find a way to save you."

"... and I don't want fight the way I'm feeling anymore."

I shake my head, a little confused. "What are you - "

He cuts me off quickly, "I don't want to deny that I have feelings for you... That ever since you landed in our lives things have been better." Dean closes the space between us, his hands finding my cheeks and cupping them, "That you make me a better man."

"De- " I breathe but he cuts my off by a rush of overdue kisses.

He uses his tongue to part my lips, kissing me deeper. This wasn't just a kiss of passion; it was much more than that. It was as if he was trying to claim my very soul as his, and I was letting him. My hands find their way to his hair, winding and tugging, making him growl in response. I feel his hands slip underneath my shirt, dragging his nails up and marking me. I whimper into his mouth as our bodies crush together, my hips arching into him. I release my grip on his hair and slide my hands down his back, tugging at the hem of his shirt when I get to the bottom and pull it over his head before tossing it on the floor. He returns the favor flinging mine in the opposite direction.

He surrounds my waist with his hands and lifts me from the ground. My arms tighten over his neck and my legs wrap securely around his waist while he walks us to the bed, still kissing me like he never would again. With a simple gesture our bodies are momentarily disconnected as he tosses me onto the bed. Our eyes are hazy and locked as he slowly he works his way up my body, fluttering kisses over my stomach as he goes. My neck rolls back in pleasure and Dean wastes no time, nipping at my neck, sends me over the edge, sucking on my pulse point hard enough to leave a bruise, then letting his tongue gliding over his handiwork. Another moan escapes my mouth, falling from my lips like honey, slow and sticky sweet, drizzling right into the combs of his ears.

"Clothes. Need to go." Dean growls in my ear. I reach down to unbuckle Dean's belt, the metal clanging against itself, fingers pulling at his zipper, his jeans loosen and he kicks them off onto the floor. He doesn't even bother with my button or zipper, he just pulls my jeans straight down, tossing them to accompany our other discarded garments on the ground. He leans back onto his knees and looks down at me, as if he's savoring every look. I'm only in my underwear now, a deep blue bra with matching panties. My chest moving up and down, air pumping into my lungs, and my heart rate out of control.

"You're beautiful, Lena." He breathes.

"You're not too bad yourself." I barely squeak out.

The only thing left Dean has on is his plaid boxers that are covering his throbbing cock. His hands find my waist once more, pulling me up to him with one strong muscled arm, reaching around and snapping my bra clasp free with the other. He practically rips it off of me he throws it onto the floor.

His mouth reconnects with mine; he hooks a thumb through the side of my underwear, pulling them down my legs. Soon enough, I'm completely bare, all his for the taking. Dean's boxers quickly fall to his ankles and are kicked aside to the graveyard of clothing on the floor.

He lays me back onto the bed and presses his chest to mine; kissing down my neck he spreads my legs with his rough palms, kissing up my thigh, eyes locked on mine and, grinning widely, slipping a finger against my slick folds. I whimpered, as his fingers are still pumping in and out of my now dripping wet pussy. I exhale sharply as his thumb finds my clit rubbing it with smooth, circling movements. I moan into his hair. "Dean, please."

He looks into my eyes... and the way he looks into them, the connection we have... it is stronger than it ever has been. This isn't just another hook up for either of us.

Dean heeds my plea guiding his cock into me, a loud gasp forming from my lips; he begins to move in and out slowly, building up a steady pace. His thrusts stay even for the moment, his hands move to my hair, his fingers run through it playing with the strands as he begins to go faster. He quickens his pace, sliding his cock fully inside of me, only to remove it completely right after.

"Dean Winchester. You're a tease." I moan in pleasure.

"Oh baby, I'm just getting started." He retorts smirking into my neck.

His thrusts are strong and quick, going deeper and deeper each time. I find myself gripping his forearms, gasping for air, as the heat is building inside. Dean nips gently at my ear, whispering in between nibbles, "God Lena, you feel so good."

He teases my nipple with one finger, making me the most aroused I have ever been in my life. Raising my hips I meet each of his thrusts eagerly, his groans of pleasure turn me on even more as I grip him inside of me. Dean moves just slightly but it's enough to hit my g-spot, my fingers that are on his biceps grip tighter. He quickens his pace even more, thrusting with all the precision and intensity I need to be sent over the edge. I open my mouth to scream silently in pleasure while shutting my eyes and feel my orgasm explode between my legs. My walls tighten violently around Dean, causing him to moan out.

"Yeah." He gives me a cocky smile before rolling off and pulling me into his embrace so my head was against his chest. He ran the back of his fingertips over my shoulders before placing his hand on my back. I felt his lips press against my hair and his cheek rest against my head.

I smiled and trailed my arm over his chest, still hazy in the afterglow of what just happened.

But like everything in our lives it abruptly comes to an end, I hear the key in the lock. Dean and I look at each other eyes wide with the same realization.

_Sam._

"Hey guys I took Bobby back to his room and oh my god!" Sam looks at us as I try and hide myself under the blanket.

"Oh my god." I whine loudly.

"God damn it Sammy!" Dean yells out covering himself up.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sam apologizes covering his eyes. "Let me just put this stuff in the safe."

Dean lifts the blanket and looks at me, "Lena I'm so sorry."

"Nothing we can do now."

"Guys." Sam storms back into the room. "The Colt is gone."

"Bela." Dean and I growl out at the same time.

"No wonder she wasn't answering the phone. She took it then took off."

"Sammy hand me some pants will ya?" Dean asks his brother.

Sam grabs a pair of boxers and jeans tossing them to Dean. "What's the plan?"

"We're gonna hunt the bitch down." He says pulling his boxers on in the bed

"Dean." I place my hand on his chest holding him in place. "No."

"What do you mean no?" He protests.

"We will get the Colt back, but we have _more important_ things to worry about right now."

Dean settles back, his face grim, but I know he gets it. "You're right." He gets up from the bed and grabs a robe tossing it to me. "We've got work to do."


	9. Chains Can't Hold Us

_February 25, 2008 Monument Colorado_

It took time but we did it – we found her. Sam picked the lock of the room and once it popped he rushed in first, I followed, and Dean closed the door behind us.

We begin to search the room; our efforts to find the Colt are frantic at this point.

"Any sign of it?" Dean calls out to us while continuing to rummage through a drawer.

"Nope." I call back, slamming another drawer shut.

"Are you sure this is Bela's room?" Sam asks.

Dean turns to us, a wig in each hand, "I'd say so."

Suddenly a phone begins to ring; my eyes scan the room to find the phone placed on the bed. I look to the brothers who just shrug in response. I walk over and hesitantly pick it up, saying nothing.

"Dean? Sweetie, are you there?" Bela's voice rings through.

"Not Dean." The annoyance in my voice sky high.

"Elena, how nice to hear your voice." She purrs.

"Where are you?"

"Two states away by now."

"We want it back Bela, _now_." I growl at her.

"Your little pistol, you mean? Sorry, I can't at the moment." She trills.

I look up to see Dean mouthing ' _what's she saying?'_ I ignore him and keep talking, "Do you understand how many people are going to die if you do this?"

"What exactly is it that you think I plan to do with it?"

"Take the only weapon we have against an army of demons and sell it to the highest bidder."

"Big talk for a girl and her boys who can't even find me."

I force a chuckle, "Oh Bela, we have _nothing_ better to do than to track you down."

" _That's_ where you're wrong. You're about to be quite occupied. You see Sam and Dean have a past, and that past is about to catch up with them. Tata!" Bela giggles as she hangs up.

Slowly I pull the phone from my ear, "What the fu-"

Suddenly the door to the room bursts inward, police officers barrel in quickly, guns aimed at the three of us. We all raise our hands up in surrender while the officers yell.

"Hands in the air!"

"Down on your knees!"

I lower slowly to my knees to avoid being shot, but Sam and Dean don't move.

"That bitch!" Dean yells out as he's knocked down by one of the officers. Sam is next, they're both face down on the ground.

"Sam and Dean Winchester, you have the right to remain silent." One of the officers starts as he cuffs their hands behind their backs.

"And who are you?" the second officer grunts at me.

I look to him, my lips pursed in silence.

"Don't wanna tell me? Fine. Jane Doe, you have the right to remain silent."

As the officers continue to read us our rights I hear footsteps approaching. Sam and Dean look up from the ground.

"Hi guys. It's been awhile." The voice from above us quips.

* * *

The ride was silent. Not by choice - we aren't allowed to speak. That didn't stop me from glaring at Sam and Dean from the other side of the van.

Once at our destination we are escorted out of the back of the van, Sam and Dean are shackled together by a long chain, guarded by two officers. I'm handcuffed alone following behind them as we are ushered into the Sheriff's station.

We pause only for a brief moment; but I use it to take in all the faces around the room. Multiple officers, the man who arrested us, and one woman - the name plate on the desk she stands behinds reads "Melissa Trevino".

"Why all the sourpusses?" Dean chuckles with a smile spread across his face. Melissa grabs the rosary around her neck tightly, fear evident on her face.

"I'll show you to the cells." One of the officers grunts as he grabs Dean's arm.

"Hey! Hey! Watch the merchandise."

"Dean, shut up." I hiss at him through grit teeth.

Melissa's eyes trail after us as we walk down the hall.

"We're not the ones you should be scared of, Melissa." Sam tells her as we pass.

The officer leading me; uses his keys to open a cell, the metal-on-metal clanging reverberates in my eardrums. I step into the cell offering no resistance, but he doesn't remove my handcuffs. Sam and Dean are shoved in after me still chained as well. The police leave us alone; Sam and Dean bicker and attempt to figure out how to sit down on the cot, after a few twirls around each other they figure it out, plopping down in sync.

"How are we going to Houdini out of this one?" Dean asks his brother.

"Good question." Sam replies solemnly.

Dean looks to me, eyes questioning, "Lena, you haven't said a word."

I keep my silence and continue to glare at them.

"I think she's mad, Dean." Sam whispers keeping his eyes trained on me.

" _You think_?" Dean whispers back.

I can feel the heat growing in my face, the anger bubbling up. "Would one of the two of you dumbasses mind telling me why the hell I'm in jail?"

"Well you see, it's not because of you-" Sam starts.

"-it's because of us." Dean finishes.

"Gee, you think? What gave that away?" I snap.

Dean jerks back as if my words actually hit him, "Hey, no need to get snappy."

"No need to get _snappy?_ Really, Dean?" I cock my head to the side. "Explain, _now._ "

"Okay so a few years ago a shape shifter took my form and started killing people. Henriksen is the FBI agent who "caught" me except I wasn't the one killing anyone." Dean explains as quickly and quietly as possible. "He got Sam too but we escaped, last year we let him catch us so we could get a case inside of a jail. We escaped – again. He's not our biggest fan."

I lean back against the bars of the cell, "Fantastic."

"Look he thinks we're murderers and killers but we're not. Most people don't understand what's really out there."

"I know, I know."

Behind me I hear footsteps approaching our cell, the man I now know as Henriksen, leans against the bars, gaze falling on me then to Sam and Dean. "Fellas, not nice to make a lady stand."

When none of us respond he continues, "You know what I'm trying to decide?"

"I don't know. What? Whether Cialis will help you with your little condition?" Dean chides.

"What to have for dinner tonight. Steak or lobster, what the hell, surf and turf. I got a lot to celebrate. I mean, after all, seeing you two in chains…"

Dean looks to him, his face riddled with cynicism, "You kinky son of a bitch. We don't swing that way."

"Now that's funny." Henriksen responds but doesn't laugh.

"You know, I wouldn't bust out the melted butter just yet. Couldn't catch us at the bank, couldn't keep us in that jail."

"You're right. I screwed up. I underestimated you. I didn't count on you being that smart but now I'm ready." Henriksen looks to me. "And now you two are dragging your pretty friend down with you."

Lazily I raise my head from the bars I am leaning against and spit out, "Bite me."

"Feisty. Hopefully you'll use that fire to tell us everything you know about these two to save your own ass from going down with them."

"Doubt it."

"So, you ready to lose us again?" Dean chimes back in.

"Ready like a court order to keep you in a super max prison in Nevada till trial. Ready like, isolation in a soundproof, windowless cell."

Sam and Dean realize that he's serious because they both go completely rigid. An accomplished smile spreads across Henriksen's face. "How's that for ready? Take a good look at Sam and your girlfriend over there, Dean. You will never see each other again."

Dean raises his head; jaw clenched looking right at him. "You got the wrong guys."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. You fight monsters. Sorry, Dean. Truth is, your daddy brainwashed you with all that devil talk and no doubt touched you in a bad place. That's all. That's reality."

"Why don't you shut your mouth." Sam cautions him aggressively.

"Everybody's got a sob story, but not everybody becomes a killer. And now I have two less to worry about."

The whirring of blades above tells me something has come to take us out of here. Henriksen looks at his watch; tapping it he smiles widely at us, "Its surf and turf time!" He laughs at his own joke as he walks away, leaving us alone again.

Pulling away from the wall I step over to the cot they're sitting on. They look up at me as if they don't know what I'm doing. I raise my cuffed hands and motion at them, "Scoot over!"

They lift their butts and shuffle over just enough so I fit next to them, flopping down I raise my handcuffed hands and rub my temples.

"Lena, I'm sorry." I look to Dean, his moss green eyes fixed on me. "You shouldn't be here."

"At least they don't know who I am." I retort lowering my hands back in my lap.

Once again footsteps approach our cell but this time it isn't Henriksen, it's someone new. "Sam and Dean Winchester. I'm Deputy Director Steven Groves. This is a pleasure."

Dean rises from the cot, cocking his head at the Deputies choice of words, "Well, glad one of us feels that way.

"I've been waiting a long time for you two to come out of the woodwork." Groves quickly un-holsters his gun, steadily aims at Dean. He pulls the trigger without hesitation and shoots Dean in his left shoulder.

Blood sprays onto the wall behind him as Dean stumbles backward, Sam jumps up and grapples with Groves through the bars. I grab Dean and guide him back to the cot, Groves fires several more shots but thankfully they miss us. Sam has a grip on the arm that's holding the gun, Groves eyes turn black. Sam wastes no time and begins to spit out an exorcism as fast as he can causing Groves' head to whip from side to side violently.

"Sorry, I've gotta cut this short. It's gonna be a long night, fellas." Groves throws his head back; black smoke pours out of his mouth with a scream and disappears through the air vent on the ceiling. His body slams into the ground right as Henriksen and two other officers' charge into the cells.

"Put the gun down!" The officer whose name badge reads Melvin screams at Sam.

"Wait. Okay. Wait." Sam bends over and tosses the gun gently outside the cell.

"He shot him!"

Sam rises back to a standing position with his hands in the air. "I didn't shoot him, okay? I didn't shoot anyone."

"He shot Dean!" I nearly shriek at them while putting pressure on Dean's wound.

"Get on your knees, NOW!" Henriksen's voice booms through the cell.

"Okay, okay, okay. Don't shoot. Please. Look. Here. Here." Sam passes the gun through the bars. "Look. We didn't shoot him. Check the body. There's no blood. We did not kill him. Go ahead, check him."

The officer with the name tag Reidy checks Groves body, "Vic, there's no bullet wound."

"He's probably been dead for months." Dean pants out his breathing labored.

Henriksen keeps his gun aimed in our direction, "What did you do to him?"

"We didn't do anything!" I exclaim, my excitement results in me pressing a little too hard on Dean's bleeding chest because I hear him wince, his blood hot and wet dripping down my hands. "Sorry." I whisper to him

"Talk or I shoot."

"You won't believe us."

"He was possessed." Sam fesses up.

"Possessed? Right." An obviously forced laugh erupts from Henriksen's throat. "Fire up the chopper! We're taking them out of here now."

Reidy pulls at his walkie that is resting on the shoulder of his shirt towards his mouth, he hits the button. "Bill?" nothing but static comes from the other end. "Bill, are you there?"

Reidy looks up to Henriksen, he nods to him to check outside. Reidy scrambles up and beelines for the door.

Moments pass and no one says a word, the air around us is silent.

"They're dead. I think they're all dead." Reidy's voice crackles over the walkie talkie.

* * *

Silently I listen to the commotion going on out in the main room of the Sheriff's station. As far as I can tell, everyone except for who is still inside, are dead - which means not good odds for us. I keep pressure on Dean's wound, trying to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Since I've been with them I have grown stronger, I'm no Hulk but I can hold my own.

"So what's the plan?" Henriksen booms as he stomps back into the room. "Kill everyone in the station, bust you two out?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean croaks.

"I'm talking about your psycho friends. I'm talking about a blood bath."

"Okay, I promise you – whoever's out there? They're not here to help us."

"Look, you have to believe us. Everyone here is in terrible danger." I plead.

"You think?" Henriksen retorts.

Tilting my head slightly I bite back, "Why don't you let us out of here so we can save your asses?"

"From what? You gonna say " _demons_ "?" Henriksen raises his gun in the air, waving it around erratically. "Don't you dare say "demons." Let me tell you something. You should be a lot more scared of me." Lowering his gun he hustles out of the room once again.

Sam turns back to us, shaking his head. "How's the shoulder?"

Dean gently moves my hand to the side and pulls the folded up toilet paper from his shoulder, blood soaked all the way through, "It's awesome. I'll live. You know if we get out of here alive."

I take the pad of toilet paper from his hands and toss it in the garbage. Reaching towards the roll of fresh stuff I start to gather more. I look up and see Melissa silently peaking around the corner. "Hey." I whisper and nod at Sam.

"Hey…" Sam greets her softly.

Melissa immediately starts to back off, she's scared and I don't blame her.

"Hey, Please. We need your help. It's… its Melissa. Melissa, right?" Sam stutters out.

Melissa nods her head, but just barely enough to be noticed.

"My… my brother's been shot. He's… He's bleeding really badly. You think maybe you could get us a towel? Please? Just one clean towel? We're not the bad guys. I swear."

I smile gently at her but she runs out anyway. Sam sighs heavily at her exit.

"Nice try." Dean mumbles under his breath.

The padding of shoes on the concrete floor draws our attention. Melissa is back, a towel clutched in her hands.

"Thank you." Sam breathes.

Melissa takes small, cautionary steps towards our cell. Sam holds out his still handcuffed hands in front of him, she reaches inside the cell passing the towel to him, Sam smiles and Melissa smiles back. Suddenly Sam grabs Melissa's arm and drags her closer, smacking her body against the outside of the cell. She's screaming at the top of her lungs, an officer runs in, Cooper stitched on his name tape.

"Let her go! Let her go!" Cooper yells repeatedly at Sam.

Sam finally lets her go and she backs away from the cell, visibly shaking.

Cooper's gun is aimed right at Sam as he speaks, "You okay, Lissa?"

Melissa nods.

"Try something again, get shot. And not in the arm."

"Okay. Okay." Sam responds raising his hands in surrender.

Cooper places his hand on Melissa's back and guides her quickly out of the room.

Sam turns back to us to meet a punch in the arm from me. "Ow!"

"What the hell was that Sam?"

Sam lifts his hand, opening it slightly a rosary falls through dangling from his fingertips.

I look to the rosary then back to Sam, "Sorry about that then." Gesturing to his arm.

"It's alright, Elena. But honestly we're sitting ducks in here."

"Yeah, I know. Would it kill these cops to BRING US A SNACK?!" Dean shouts the last few words as he presses the towel against his wound.

"How many are we thinking there are?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. However many they are, they could be possessing anyone. Anyone could just walk right in." Sam gestures openly.

"It's kind of wild, right? I mean it's like they're coming for us, Sam. They've never done that before."

Sam doesn't waste any time, he drops the rosary into the toilet, feigning and 'ew' sound from both Dean and I, and starts to bless the water.

The Sheriff makes his way into the room, key jangling in his hand. Reaching out he unlocks the cell.

"Well, howdy there, Sheriff." Dean purrs with a fake southern accent.

The Sheriff doesn't respond with words, he just pushes the cell door open. "It's time to go."

We look at each other, something isn't right here. The three of us take a few steps back simultaneously.

"Uh… you know what? We're – we're just comfy right here. But thank you." Dean assures him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Henriksen's voice booms from the entry way.

"We're not just gonna sit around here and wait to die. We're gonna make a run for it." The Sheriff explains.

"It's safer here."

"There's a SWAT facility in Boulder."

Henriksen steps inside the cell making it a little more than crowded. "We're not going anywhere."

The Sheriff's mouth drops open flabbergasted. "The hell we're not."

Before any of us can register what's happening Henriksen draws his gun and shoots the Sheriff right between the eyes. The gasp that passes my lips in involuntary but it causes Henriksen to adjust his sights back to us. Sam and Dean rush Henriksen causing him to drop his gun, they force him to his knees in front of the toilet. Placing his hand on the back of his head, Sam shoves his head into the toilet bowl face first, spitting out an exorcism as fast as possible.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Officer Cooper coming around the corner, rifle in hand. Looking around quickly I spot Henriksen's gun on the floor, in one fell swoop I reach down and grab the gun. I cock the gun into the ready position facing off with Cooper.

"Stay back." I warn him fiercely.

Henriksen lifts his head out of the water; his face is burning, his screams reverberating off the walls.

"Hurry up, Sam." Dean's voice comes out strangled as he stands behind me holding his shoulder.

Henriksen's eyes go black as he gasps for air, "It's too late. I already called them. They're already coming."

Sam forces his head back underwater and finishes the exorcism. Releasing his grip, Sam falls back onto the floor breathing heavily. Henriksen raises his head once more as the black smoke shoots out of his mouth and up into the air vent in the ceiling. He falls backwards onto the floor.

"Is he…is he dead?" I hear a small voice squeak, Melissa had come in during the commotion.

Before anyone can answer the coughing and choking of Henriksen answers the question for us.

Sam places his hand on the older man's shoulder to steady him. "Henriksen! Hey is that you in there?"

He shakes Sam's hand off and raises himself onto the bed breathlessly, sweating feverishly. He's silent only for a few moments before he speaks. "I shot the Sheriff."

I already know where this is going before it starts. My eyes dart to Dean as a smile creeps up his face, "But you didn't shoot the deputy."

Sam stares at him in disbelief as I try and stifle a laugh. Only Dean could make a situation like this just a little lighter.

"Five minutes ago I was fine, and then…"

"Let me guess. Some nasty black smoke jammed itself down your throat?" Dean finishes for him.

"You were possessed." I add in to give him the easy version to digest.

Henriksen's are wide in shock, "Possessed, like… _possessed_?"

"I owe you the biggest ' _I told you so'_ ever." Dean declared.

I tap Henriksen on the shoulder, once he's turned to me I hand him his gun. The corners of his mouth turn up as a thank you. "Officer Cooper. Keys."

Cooper jams his hand in his pocket and fishes out the keys handing them to the FBI Agent. Henriksen undoes Sam and Dean's chains first then my hand cuffs.

"Alright how do we survive?"

I rub my aching wrists as I answer, "We're gonna need a few things."

* * *

Cans of spray paint in hand, Sam and I paint devil's traps on the floors around the station. Dean has the floor plans laid out in front him looking them over carefully; Melissa is tending to his wound. Cooper and Henriksen are pulling out guns from the armory, loading them and preparing.

Once the final line is painted I pop the lid back on my can before tossing it into the garbage. "Those guns aren't going to do much." I toss out nonchalantly.

Cooper looks up from the guns to me. "We've got an arsenal here."

I look at the pile of guns laid before them. My head tilts slightly as I let out a small laugh. "Shooting them will just piss them off."

"What do you need then?" Henriksen asks, his words lined with trust.

"Salt and lots of it."

"Salt?" Cooper repeats.

"What is there an echo in here?" the remark leaves Deans mouth snarkily.

"There's road salt in the storeroom." Melissa squeaks softly.

I smile at her; she's been the only one to actually be helpful. "Perfect. We need salt at every window and every door."

Henriksen and Cooper drop the guns and make their way to the storeroom to retrieve what we need.

Dean turns to the girl tending to his wound. "How you holdin' up, Melissa."

"Okay." Melissa pauses for a moment. "When I was little, I would come home from the church and start to talk about the devil. And my parents would tell me to stop being so literal. I guess I showed them, huh?" She adds another piece of tape to Dean's bandage. "That should hold."

"Thank you." Dean smiles at her warmly.

I can feel my stomach bubbling with jealousy, the question is why? We aren't together; he's not even flirting with her. _Get a grip, Elena._

Cooper renters the room, both arms loaded with bags of salt.

"Hey where's my car?" Dean asks.

"Impound lot out back." Cooper responds as he sets the bags onto an empty spot on the table.

Dean slips his jacket back on and makes his way towards the door.

"Wait."

Dean turns back and looks at him.

"You're not going out there are you?"

"Yeah, I got to get something out of my trunk."

I grab my own jacket, slipping my arms into it. "I'm going with you."

Dean stops again and looks to me, "No, Lena. Stay here."

"Dean…"

"Elena, we don't know what's out there. So for once can you just do as I say and stay here?" There's nothing but anger in Dean's voice, but his eyes are frightened. He doesn't wait for me to respond, he turns and jogs out the door to the impound lot.

I don't know how long I stand there for; it feels like a lifetime. A simple touch knocks me back into the real world, Sam's hand is on my shoulder, gently squeezing. My eyes meet his, there are no words spoken between us because his face tells it all. He knows his brother better than anyone, when Dean cares for someone he will do anything to protect them, even if it means saying something hurtful. I shake off my feelings and turn back to everyone. "Grab a bag and let's get to work."

* * *

The slam of the door behind us is followed by Dean's voice screaming, "They're coming! Hurry!"

We're all scattered over the station finishing the salt lines. Black smoke hits the window that Melissa is working on causing her to scream and stumble backward. Everyone retreats to the main office area, Dean tosses Sam and I both shotguns, we catch them with ease. The smoke is surrounding all the windows, pounding to get in, the lights flicker above us, dust raining down from the ceiling as the building shakes from the impact. Out of the corner of my eye I see Melissa clutching the cross around her neck.

Once the shaking subsides Sam asks, "Everybody okay?"

"Define 'okay'." Henriksen's voice comes out strained.

"Alright, everybody needs to put these on."

Dean pulls out a bag from his pocket handing out necklaces to each person. "They'll keep you from being possessed."

"What about you th-three?" Melissa stammers.

Simultaneously we all pull at the hems of our shirts showing our tattoos to the group.

"Smart." Henriksen comments. "How long you had those?"

"Not long enough." Sam replies solemnly.

Something at the front door catches my eye, a group of people standing outside; not moving - just waiting it seems like. "That must be where all the demon smoke went." I nod towards the door.

"Looks like." Dean agrees. "Henriksen you're with me. Grab some salt." Dean doesn't bother to look me in the eyes; he just grabs the bag of guns and makes his way into the Sheriff's office, Henriksen right behind him.

"I'm going to check the salt lines." I grumble before trudging around that station.

_Dean freaking Winchester._

_What the hell._

_What is your problem?_

_Stop being such a dick and let me help._

_I can take care of myself you know._

_Don't need to be an asshole just because you want to protect me._

The thoughts are racing through my mind as I check each room. As I finish the east side of the building I head back to the main room to check the south, but I can't help but stop - I can hear Dean and Henriksen talking.

"Can you guys beat it? Can you win?" Henriksen asks.

"Honestly? I think the world's gonna end bloody. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't fight. We do have choices. I choose to go down swingin'."

"Nothing to go home to? You've got your brother and Elena."

"Yeah, but I'm not really sure I _have_ Elena."

My heart wretches in my chest at his confession.

_Of course you have me._

The conversation is cut short by the sound of breaking glass followed by a thud; I break into a sprint sliding to a halt behind Sam, Dean and Henriksen right behind me.

Henriksen raises his rifle instantly, "How do we kill her?"

"We don't." Sam places the palm of his hand over the rifle pushing it downward.

"She's a demon!"

"She's here to help."

"Are you gonna let me out?" Ruby pants, she's covered in blood, some of it her own judging from the cut across her cheek.

"Do we have to?" I sigh exasperated.

Sam pulls out a knife from his pocket, kneeling down he scratches the devil's trap.

"And they say chivalry's dead. Does anyone have a breath mint? Some guts splattered in my mouth while I was killing my way in here." Ruby asks nonchalantly as she makes her way out of the room.

Dean, Henriksen and I follow Ruby while Sam stays behind to fix the salt line and devil's trap.

"How many are there?" Dean asks point blank.

Ruby hops onto a desk, settling herself on the edge. "30 at least. That's so far."

"Oh, good. 30. 30 hit men all gunning for us. Who sent them?"

"You didn't tell Dean and Elena, Sammy?" Ruby gazes over to Sam who is standing in the doorway.

Dean and I quickly turn our sights to Sam, "Tell us what?" Dean growls out.

Ruby is still trained on Sam as she speaks, "There's a big new up and corner. Real pied piper."

"Who is he?" I ask trying to keep my response even.

"Not he. Her. Her name is Lilith."

"Lilith?"

"And she really, really wants Sam's intestines on a stick. 'Cause she sees him as competition."

"You knew about this?" Dean addresses his brother angrily. Sam doesn't respond he just looks to the floor, avoiding his brother's gaze.

"Well, gee, Sam. Is there anything else I should know?!"

"How about the two of you talk about this later? We'll need the Colt." Ruby looks at all three of us. "Where's the Colt?"

Sam and Dean don't want to admit it so I do. "It got stolen."

Ruby whips he head around to me as she slides off the desk with ease. "I'm sorry. I must have blood in my ear. I thought I just heard you say that you were stupid enough to let the Colt get grabbed out of your stupid, newbie bitch hands. Fantastic. This is just peachy…"

"Ruby…" Sam starts.

"Shut up." She raises her hand in Sam's direction but she's not looking at him. "Fine. Since I don't see that there's no other any option. There's one other way I know how to get you out of here alive."

"And that would be?"

"I know a spell. It'll vaporize every demon in a one-mile radius. _Myself_ included. So, you let the Colt out of your sight and now I have to die. So next time, be more careful. How's that for a dying wish?" There's enough sourness in Ruby's words to make us all cringe.

Dean regards her for a moment and then shrugs, "Okay, what do we need to do?"

"Aww…" Ruby clicks her tongue. "You can't do anything. This spell is very specific. It calls for a person of virtue."

Dean opens his arms in an 'uh hello' gesture. "I've got virtue."

"Nice try."Ruby chuckles, "You're not a virgin."

Dean utters a disbelieving laugh, "No one's a virgin." He eyes flutter to me, a smile broad on his face.

I can feel the back of my neck heating up, reaching my ears, I know they're red too but I can't help but smile back at him.

"Looks like we know who's been fucking."

"Shut up, Ruby." Dean growls at her, his smile quickly replaced by anger.

Ruby looks to Melissa, who quickly looks away. "No. No way. You're kidding me, r–. You're…"

"What? It's a choice, okay?" Melissa crosses her arms over her chest defensively.

"So, y-you've never… Not even once? I mea-"

"Dean." His eyes immediately snap to me. "Shut up."

Melissa wisely chooses to ignore us and smiles at Ruby. "So, this spell. What can I do?"

Ruby smiles back stepping toward her, "You can hold still while I cut your heart out of your chest."

"What?" Melissa cries out clamoring back against her desk.

Jumping up I place myself in front of Ruby, "Are you crazy?"

"I'm offering a solution."

"You're offering to kill somebody. The answer is no."

Ruby stares back at me for a long moment, like she's analyzing me. "And what do you think's gonna happen to this girl when the demons get in? You gonna protect her? Hmm..?"

"We _are_ going to protect her." My sentence comes out short and clipped.

"Excuse me?" Melissa asks softly.

"Very noble." Ruby's mocking me.

"Ex– excuse me."

"You're all gonna die. Look. This is the only way." She continues.

"Yeah right, there's no way that we're gonna let-" Before I can finish I'm cut off by Melissa yelling.

"Would everybody please shut up?!" We all look to Melissa, almost shocked that, that loud of a sound escaped her lips. "All the people out there… will it save them?"

Ruby steps around me, toward Melissa again, "It'll blow the demons out of their bodies. So if their bodies are okay… yeah."

After a long pause Melissa has made her decision, "I'll do it."

"No!"

"Hello no!"

Dean and I are overlapping each other.

"You don't need to do this."

"There has to be another way.

"All my friends are out there." Melissa is almost in tears now, her eyes pleading with us to change our minds.

"We don't sacrifice people. We do that, we're no better than them." Henriksen adds from behind us.

"We don't have a choice." Ruby turns to Sam, who has been eerily silent the entire time. "Sam, you know I'm right."

His silence only proceeds to piss his brother off more, "What the hell is going on, Sam?"

"It's my decision." Melissa breaks in.

"Damn straight, cherry pie."

"Ruby if you don't shut up, I'll send you back to hell myself." I snarl.

"Stop! Ruby, Elena, stop! Nobody kill any virgins. Meeting, Sam, Elena, _now._ " Dean moves toward the door and into the hallway. Sam and I follow.

Dean starts the meeting full force, "Please tell me you're not actually considering this. We're talking about holding down a girl and cutting out her heart."

"And we're also talking about 30 people out there, Dean. Innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone in here." Sam counters.

"It doesn't mean that we throw away the rule book and stop acting like humans. I'm not gonna let that demon kill some nice, sweet, innocent girl, who hasn't even been laid. I mean, look, if that's how you win wars, then I don't want to win."

Sam runs his hand through his hair and sighs, "Okay then what do we do, Dean?"

Dean clears his throat and says in a carefully neutral voice, "I got a plan. I'm not saying it's a good one. I'm not even saying that it'll work. But it sure as hell beats killing a virgin."

"What's the plan?"

"Open the doors, let them all in and we fight."

Sam's wide-eyed look matches mine, "You're insane."

"Yeah well, insane is just about all we got right now."

Sam sighs, knowing he won't win the argument, he breaks from the group. "I'll go tell the others."

Dean starts to follow his brother but I grab him by the shoulder, swinging him back to me. "We," I gesture to myself, him, and then Sam. "may be done with our group meeting. But you and I are not."

"What, why?"

Narrowing my eyes I continue, "Did you really think I was going to let you get away with that stunt you pulled earlier?"

"I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me? Dean, you and Sam have been training me for months. And what was the point of that?"

Dean's eyes lower to the ground, the bottom of his boot scraping the ground as he jostled around. "So you could protect yourself."

"Exactly. You know I can handle it; you can't baby me, Dean. You just can't. The moment that you do, the moment when it really matters, you'll be too worried about me and you'll get yourself hurt."

"Yeah well, I'd rather get hurt then see you hurt." He brings his gaze back to mine, his green eyes soft in the fluorescent light.

"What am I going to do with you, Winchester?"

"You could kiss me." The corners of his mouth tilt up into one of those rare smiles that crinkle the corners of his eyes and make him look about five years old all at once.

How he is doing that in a time like this, I have zero clue - but it works. I close the space between us and he presses his lips into mine. Dean's hands settle on my hips, I go up on my tiptoes, deepening the kiss. He holds me there, his hands flexing in a languid, easy rhythm, as he kisses me back. From the main room I hear Sam deliver a very pointed cough.

Dean immediately breaks the kiss to respond, "Yeah, coming," but his hands linger on me a moment longer. He gives my waist a quick squeeze and kisses my forehead before stepping away and back into the fray.

* * *

Even though Ruby ditched us we carry out Dean's plan anyway. Sam, Henriksen, Dean and myself are positioned in different parts of the building, waiting for Dean's go ahead. Melissa and the other officers are in their places, waiting for their moment.

"All set?" I hear Dean call from down the hall.

"Yeah!" Sam yells.

"Ready!" Henriksen echoes.

"All good!" I call back.

I check the shotgun in my hands one final time as Dean calls out, "Let's do this!"

Immediately I rush forward, swinging the door open I break the salt line. Nothing's happening; I'm greeted with silence until I'm slammed onto my back from a kick to my chest. The tightness in my chest from the blow doesn't stop me from moving; I force myself up to face the demon laughing at its small victory. In one swift motion I pull the shotgun in front of me and fire right into its chest knocking it down.

A small smile creeps on my face but it doesn't last long, more demons make their way in. One streamlines directly at me forces me against the wall by my neck. The demon is snarling in my face, nipping at me trying to get to me but my arm on its chest is keeping it at bay for the moment. I reach into my pocket and fish out the flask Dean gave me as a Christmas gift, once I manage to get the cap open, I thrust the open end towards the demons face. The demons face is searing, the agony in its screams ringing in my ears as I splash it again jogging backward down the hallway.

I'm not looking behind me as I run and I bump into Dean, we both jump but once we realize we relax a little. Dean grabs more shot gun shells from his chest strap and reloads.

As a demon is running towards him, I quickly shoot at it knocking myself back into the wall with a loud thump. Dean clicks the shotgun back into place as he yells, "Go! Go! Go!"

We run full speed back to the main room; I take a swing at a demon in my path with my shotgun, knocking it to the ground. Sam is already there, flinging holy water on the demons surrounding him. I cover him, so does Dean, all of us splashing water, skin sizzling, and groans of pain all around us – until we run out. They've encircled us now, one of the demons, a girl, climbs over a desk and walks towards Sam. She extends her arm, and the three of us go flying against the wall pinned. Gasping for air through the pain I look to Dean, who's looking back.

"Henriksen, now!" Dean manages to croak out.

Moments later the loudspeakers in the station blare to life, Sam's voice echoing through the building. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii. Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis, humiliare sub potenti manu dei..."

The exorcism continues over the loud speaker, the demons are flailing and screaming. Some are covering their ears like that will help, others are running toward any exit they can find, but if all went according to plan, Melissa and the other officers have lined the outsides of every door and window on the building. No one is getting out. Black smoke starts to pour from the demons' mouths, the bodies of the possessed people fall to the ground as the smoke swirls around the ceiling.

"Contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomini quem inferi tremunt ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, domine. exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos!"

An explosion of light bursts from the smoke as it disappears, everything is still. Sam, Dean and I fall to the floor; finally released from the grip of the demon that held us there. Getting to my feet causes a groan to escape my lips, but I can tell Sam and Dean are in the same type of pain because I hear similar noises from them. The lights flicker and turn back on, the people who had been possessed start to awaken, removing themselves from the floor.

Henriksen walks into the office chuckling lightly as he wipes blood from his lip." I better call it in. Hell of a story I won't be telling."

"What _are_ you going to tell them?" Dean asks curiously.

"The least ridiculous lie I can come up with in the next five minutes."

"Good luck with that." I smile softly at him.

"Not to pressure you or anything, but what are you planning to do about us?" Dean motions to him and his brother.

"I'm gonna kill you. Sam and Dean Winchester were in the chopper when it caught on fire. Nothing left. Can't even identify them with dental records. Rest in peace guys."

Sam smiles and reaches out to shake his hand, Dean follows suit.

"What about me?" I add quickly.

"Looks like you're dead too, Elena Gilbert. They ran your prints when you three were in the cell. Prints came back from Mystic Falls Police Department."

"Fantastic, another thing to explain to everyone back home."

Henriksen laughs, "Better than being actually in jail, or dead. Now get out of here."

* * *

The motel is a godsend at this point, we've all showered. They let me go first; I tried not to hog the hot water. Sam's lying on his back on one of the beds, Dean is in the bathroom and I'm lying on the bed opposite of Sam. There's a knock at the door, Dean exits the bathroom, makes his way across the room and opens the door. Ruby.

"Turn on the TV." She commands as she pushes past Dean, walking into the room.

Sam grabs the remote and flicks on the television.

There's a reporter on the TV going over the latest headline. "The community is still reeling from the tragedy that happened just a few hours ago. Authorities believe a gas main ruptured…"

Dean sits on the edge of the bed I'm on; I sit up and scoot next to him to get a better look at the screen.

The report continues, "...causing the massive explosion that ripped apart the police station and claimed the lives of everyone inside. Among the deceased, at least six police officers and staff, and secretary Melissa Trevino as well as three FBI agents, identified as Steven Groves, Calvin Reidy, and Victor Henriksen." The news channel cycles through photos. "Three fugitives in custody were also killed. We'll continue to follow the story here at the scene, but for now, back to you, Jim."

Ruby turns off the TV and looks at us with an "I-told-you-so" look.

"Must have happened right after we left." Sam concludes.

"Considering the size of the blast smart money's on Lilith." Ruby tosses each of us a bag.

A hex bag I realize once it's in my hands. "What's in these?"

"Something that'll protect you. Throw Lilith off your trail… for the time being, at least."

"Thanks." I mumble under my breath.

"Don't thank me. Lilith killed everyone. She slaughtered your precious little virgin, plus a half a dozen other people. So after your big speech about humanity and war, turns out your plan was the one with the body count. Do you know how to run a battle? You strike fast and you don't leave any survivors. So no one can go running to tell the boss." The anger in her voice subsides to emptiness. "So next time… we go with my plan." Ruby turns on her heels and storms out of the room.

The silence in the room is deafening and I can't stand it. I reach out and lightly place my hand over Deans. "Dean… this isn't our-"

"Don't." He yanks his hand out from under mine. "Just don't."

It's like my touch is making his skin crawl, he jumps from the bed, swipes his jacket and keys from the table, making his way toward the door.

Rising from the bed I start to follow, "Dean!"

Dean pauses with his hand resting on the doorframe, but he doesn't turn around. "I just need some air... We can't save everyone Lena, no matter how much we want to." He says over his shoulder... then he's gone.


	10. The Choices that Define Us

_May 1, 2008_

The house we found was abandoned from what we could tell. Setting up was easy, but finding a demon was a little more difficult. After we managed to catch him, we strapped him to a chair in the middle of a devils trap.

He sat there, screaming and thrashing from the holy water Dean is throwing at him. "You ready to talk?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything!"

Dean turned to us, feigning a fake smile, "Oh, you hear that guys? He doesn't know anything."

"Yeah, I heard." Sam responds with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I'm telling you the truth." The demon manages to chokes out.

"Oh, you are? My god, then I owe you an apology! Allow me to make it up to you." Dean brings the flask to the demons mouth before forcing holy water down his throat. Through the howling and choking from the demon, Dean continues, "I'm gonna ask you one last time...Who holds my contract?!"

The demon goes silent, his head hanging there for a moment. When he lifts his head his eyes are black and he is smiling like a fool. "Your mother. Yeah, she, uh, showed it to me right before I bent her over."

Anger flickers over Dean's face. One thing I've learned with the Winchesters – don't bring up their mother. He lowers himself so now he's face-to-face with the demon. "I want a name or else…"

"Or what? You're gonna squirt your holy water in both ends? Please. Brother, that's like a fleabite compared to what's coming to me if I tell you jack. Do what you want. The only thing I'm scared of is the demon holding your ticket."

Rising from his lowered position he looks to me, I nod and begin, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii. Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, ergo…"

"How does that feel? Does that feel good?"

The demon laughs loudly and unnervingly, "Go ahead. Send me back to hell... 'Cause when you get there, I'll be waiting for you...with a few pals who are dying for a nice little meet and greet with Dean Winchester."

"Should I?" I ask eying Dean carefully.

"Send him someplace he can't hurt anyone else."

"draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis, humiliare sub potenti manu dei..."

* * *

 _Oof._ The noise escapes my throat as I hit the grassy ground face first. I raise myself up and wipe the drops of blood from my lips. "Not taking it easy are you?"

"You told me you could handle yourself, so handle yourself." Dean responds his tone even but there's only amusement in his eyes.

When I don't answer he takes a swing, quickly I duck out of the way coming at him with an upper cut. Dean blocks it but he misses the left hook I throw seconds later, it hits him low and hard causing him to grunt. He jumps backward on his toes trying to catch his breath. "Wasn't expecting that."

I can't help but grin, I want to beat him. This time I don't hesitate, almost dancing I move forward and swing right for his perfect jaw line, he blocks my fist, twisting away he lashes out with a side kick. This time his attack connects with my ribs, I groan loudly hunching over. Dean moves towards me, trying to take advantage of the opening but I barrel at him driving my shoulder into his stomach knocking him flat on his back. Dean never goes down without a fight so he drags me down with him. As we're moaning and groaning trying to catch our breath I quickly come to the realization - I'm still on top of him.

My mind flips back to the first time I really looked at Dean - the angelic face, chiseled and tan, his moss green eyes overwhelming me. Now isn't much different except that I can see his freckles trailing across his cheeks and over his nose, almost as if they were placed with careful precision. The wear I saw on his face before is now more defined, I know it has to do with his year almost being up but I can't look away.

"Like what you see?" the familiar line leaves his mouth with a devilish smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I quip.

The smile on his face grows larger; he remembers this from the night in the motel, just as I do. "It's rude to stare Lena."

"I can't help it when I'm stuck on top of you." I giggle gesturing with my head to his hands that are firmly planted on my hips.

Slowly he releases his grip on my waist and holds his hands out, "You're free to move." He challenges.

I don't move, I don't want to and he knows it. Dean lets out a low growl; taking my hands he flips us in one swift motion, now he's on top – in control. The look in his eyes is animalistic and I know where this is going to go. Lowering his head, his lips are right above mine, I can feel Dean's breath ghosting over my lips. Before he knows what's happening I pull my knees up, clenching them on his sides I use every ounce of strength I have to flip him onto his back and jump up. Standing above him I look down with an accomplished smile on my face, "I win."

Dean chuckles as he raises himself onto his elbows, "Yeah, Lena. You win, _this_ time."

"Okay. Thanks. Yeah, I'll tell the lieutenant." Sam snaps his phone shut as he rounds the corner to us. He eyes the sight before him with a smile. "She beat you again didn't she?"

"I let her." Dean huffs as he gets up from the ground.

"You did not!" I accuse firmly.

"Do you guys remember that thing in the paper yesterday?" Sam asks, changing the subject.

""Stripper suffocates dude with thighs"?" Dean responds earnestly.

"The other thing."

"Right, the guy that walks into the E.R. and kneels over dead. His stomach's ripped out?"

"His liver, actually. Anyway, get this. The dead body was covered in bloody fingerprints, not the victim's."

"Okay, great. My man Dave Caruso will be stoked to hear it."

"Those fingerprints match a guy who died in 1981."

"Well, that's not normal." I chime in.

"So, what are we talking? Uh, walking dead?" Dean's voice rises with excitement. "Walking, killing dead?"

Sam shrugs, "Maybe."

"Zombies do like the other, other white meat. Huh. Speaking of, what do you care about zombies?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you and Elena have been on soul-saving detail for months now. And we're three weeks out, and all of a sudden, you're interested in some hot zombie action?"

Sam raises his eyebrow at his brother accusation. "Hey, man, you're the one who's been all gung ho to hunt. I just thought I'd be doing you a favor." He turns away from us stepping in the direction of the room.

"Hey, no, no, no, no, no." Dean raises his hands to stop his brother. "I didn't say I didn't want to do it, okay. I mean obviously I want to hunt some zombies."

"Okay whatever man." Sam sighs as he walks away.

Dean turns to me with his hands up, "What was all that about?"

"I'm not entirely sure." I tell him with a shake of my head. "Maybe he's just trying to get your mind off of it."

"Yeah." Dean mumbles. "Maybe."

* * *

The coroner's office is chilly and smells like formaldehyde.

"Yeah, the rest of the body was intact. The liver was the only organ missing."

"Now, where the liver was ripped out, did you happen to notice any...ah...teeth marks?" Dean asks.

The coroner looks at us like we're insane before asking, "Can I see your badges?"

"Of course, sure." Sam complies as he pulls out his badge and Dean and I follow suit.

"Fine. So you're cops and morons."

"Excuse me? No, no. We're very smart."

"The liver was not ripped out. It was removed. Surgically. By someone who knew their way around a scalpel. Didn't you read my report?"

My eyes widen but only slightly, _Of course we didn't read the report._ "Of course we did." I smile sweetly at the aged man.

"Oh it was riveting." Dean breaks in. "Real page-turner, just delightful."

"You done?" The coroner deadpans.

"I think so."

"Please go away."

I roll my eyes and head toward the door, Sam and Dean at my heels. Sam has a giant smile plastered on his face.

"What?" Dean huffs at his brother.

"Nothing. So, that kind of punches a hole in our zombie theory, huh, that scalpel thing?"

"Yeah, zombie with skills, " _Dr. Quinn, medicine zombie"_."

"Maybe we're on the wrong track, Dean, looking for hacked-up corpses."

"So if we're on the wrong track what should we be looking for then?" I interject as we move down the hallway.

"Survivors." Sam responds. "This isn't zombie lunch. This is organ theft.

* * *

Finding a survivor was easy; he was in the same hospital.

"I told the cops all of this yesterday. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"It's just a couple of questions, sir." Sam pleads gently.

The man sighs, "Hey, man. I just got my kidney stolen. I'm tired."

"We'll be out of here quick. Don't you want to get the guy?"

"Will it get me back my kidney?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" I ask him.

"Feeding my meter. I got jumped from behind...and then I wake up strapped to a table. And then the worst pain you could possibly imagine, only worse. And then I black out again. Thank God. And then I wake up screaming in some no-tell motel in a bathtub full of ice."

"Do you remember anything about the surgery – you know, what the guy looked like, any details about the room?"

"Let me think about that." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "Yeah...one thing is coming back to me. You know what I remember? Getting my kidney cut out of my body!"

Dean looks to his brother then to me with an expression that I find quite hilarious. Holding back the laughter I thank the man for his time and we head back to the motel.

* * *

The clacking of the laptop key's under Sam's fingers fills the room, alongside that Dean is happily unwrapping his hamburger while I sit on the bed, waiting.

"So I have a theory." Sam announces.

"Yeah?" I answer. Rising from the bed I move and stand beside Sam to get a look at his computer screen.

"Yeah, I talked to that guy's doctor. Turns out his incisions were sewn up with silk."

"That's weird." Dean acknowledges between bites.

"Yeah, nowadays it is, but silk used to be the suture of choice back in the early 19th century. It was really problematic. Patients would get massive infections. The death rate was insane, so doctors had to do whatever they could to keep infections from spreading. One way was maggots."

Dean stops mid chew to look at his brother, "Dude, I'm eating."

"Well that works right? Maggots eat bad tissue and leave good tissue." I add.

Sam nods at my statement. "Right! So get this. When they found our guy, his body cavity was stuffed full of maggots."

Dean stops again to look at the both of us this time, mouth full. "Guys, I'm eating!" Begrudgingly he sets down his burger. "Alright, let me get this straight. So, people are getting ganked, right? A little "antiques roadshow" surgery, some organ theft. But why is this all sounding familiar?"

"Because you heard it before. When you were a kid... from Dad." Sam explains. "Doc Benton...real-life doctor, lived in New Hampshire, brilliant and obsessed with alchemy, especially how to live forever. So, in 1816, Doc abandons his practice and..."

"Right, yeah, nobody hears from him for like 20 years, and all of sudden, people start showing up dead." Dean finishes.

"Dead or – or missing an organ or a hand or some other kind of part."

"Cause whatever he was doing was actually working. He just kept on ticking. Parts would wear out, he'd replace them. But I thought Dad hunted him down and took his heart out."

"Yeah, I guess the Doc must have plugged in a new one."

"Okay so if this guy is immortal where is he holding up?" I ask crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well what I can remember from Dad's journal, Benton's picky about where he sets up his lab. He likes dense forest with access to a river or stream or some kind of freshwater."

Dean takes a giant bite from his burger before asking, "Why?"

"Because that's where he likes to dump the bile and intestines and fecal matter." Sam states with an enormous grin plastered on his face.

Dean lowers his burger from his lips, gagging slightly.

I burst out laughing as Sam asks, "Lost your appetite yet?"

Dean looks at his burger, then to Sam and, then back to his burger obviously considering not eating anymore. "Oh baby I can't stay mad at you." He tells the burger before taking another huge bite.

"Dean I think you love food more than people." I sputter out between laughs.

"Yeah most people. Some people I think I prefer to food." He responds eyes locked on mine as he chews.

"So these are all the cabins." Sam says pointing to a few spots circled in red on a map. "Most of them have been abandoned for years."

"Alright let's go then." I respond rising from the bed and grabbing my jacket.

Dean's cell begins to ring, once he's fished it out of his pocket he looks at the caller id, he puts it on speaker. "Bobby."

"Hey." Bobby's gruff voice comes through the speaker. "Think I finally got a beat on Bela."

"I'm listening."

"Rufus Turner."

"Who's that? Like a Cleveland steamer?" Dean chuckles.

"He's a hunter, or he used to be."

"And now?"

"Hermit mostly. Does a little selling on the side. Anyway. I put the word out on Bela months ago. He just called. Said a woman got in touch, wanted to buy some things." Bobby continues.

"And he thinks its Bela?"

"British accent, went by the name Mina Chandler."

"She's used that before. Well, it's kinda of a sloppy move, isn't it? Getting in contact with one of your old friends."

"Friend? Haven't laid eyes on him in fifteen years. He's not the Christmas card type. I doubt she knows I know him. Canaan, Vermont."

"Thanks, Bobby. We're on our way."

"One other thing. Take a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue."

"Okay." Dean ends the call and slips the phone back into his pocket turning to us. "Come on. We're going after Bela."

"Alright." I shrug and begin to gather my things. "This case probably isn't zombie related anyway."

"Right?!" Dean scoffs loudly.

Sam throws his hands up to stop us, "What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second."

"Come on. Get your stuff. The clock's ticking." Dean instructs his younger brother.

"Look, I think we should stay here and finish the case."

"Are you insane?"

"Dean, there's no way she still has the Colt! That was months ago! She probably sold it the second she got it."

"Well, then I'll kill her. Win-win."

"Dean…" I caution gently.

"We're going, Sam." Dean tells him disregarding my warning tone.

"No!" Sam protests.

"Why the fuck not, Sam?" my tone comes out venomous. _What is he thinking?_

"Elena, _this,_ this here. _Now._ This is what is going to save Dean!"

"Chasing after some Frankenstein? Are you out of your mind?" I throw back at him.

"Chasing immortality." He breathes.

Dean and I stare at him, shocked. _He really has lost it._

"Look, Benton can't die." Sam presses the subject as he steps toward us. "We find out how he did it, we can do it to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have to die before you go to hell, right? So, if you can never die, then..."

Dean shakes his head in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second. Did you know that this was Doc Benton from the jump?"

"No." Sam admits softly. "I was hoping…"

"So the whole zombie thing - you were lying to me?" Dean steps toward Sam, closing the distance between them.

"I didn't wanna say anything until I was sure, Dean. All I'm trying to do is find an answer here."

"No. What you're trying to do is chase Slicey McHackey here. And to kill him? No. You wanna buy him a friggin' beer. You wanna study him."

"I was just trying to help."

"You're not helping! You forget that if I welch on this deal, you die. Guess what, living forever is welching."

"Fine! Whatever the magic pill is, I'll take it too! So will Elena."

My eyes narrow on him, "You don't speak for me, Sam."

"Oh, what is this? Sid and Nancy? No." Dean turns his away from his brother and starts to pack his bag. "It's just like Bobby's been saying. We kill the demon who owns the contract and this whole damn thing wipes clean. That's our best shot."

Sam doesn't break his concentration from his brother. "Even if you had the Colt, Dean, who are you gonna shoot? We have no idea who holds the ticket."

I wish I could read the emotions flickering through Dean's beautiful, green eyes but I don't need to, his body language tells me all I need to know. He tenses up, his knuckles are white from the grip he has on his bag. Instead of holding onto it as an anchor his for rage, he thrusts it down onto the bed. "Well, I'll shoot the hellhounds then before they slash me up! Now, you coming or not?"

"I'm staying here." Sam tells him quietly.

"No, you're not. 'Cause I'm not gonna let you wander out in the woods alone to track some organ stealing freak."

Sam takes a challenging step towards him. "You're not gonna let me?"

Dean returns the challenge. Now they're in punching distance. "No, I'm not gonna let you."

"How are you gonna stop me?" Sam's question reels Dean back - hitting him like a tidal wave.

"I'm going so if you wanna stay, _stay_. C'mon Lena."

When I don't move Dean turns back, "What's wrong?"

After thinking a moment longer I answer, "I'm going to stay with Sam."

"You're what?" Dean asks his tone on edge.

I move across the room closing the space between us, "You don't want him to do this; the least I can do is stay with him and back him up."

"No. No way."

"Dean, you're bringing a bottle of alcohol to an old man, you can do _that_ alone. Sam needs back up. I'm staying." I say, pleading at him with my eyes even though my words come out pretty much as a solid fact.

I'm not sure if he understands what I'm trying to communicate or if he is just giving up when he replies, "Fine," and slings his bag over his shoulder before opening the room door.

Dean hesitates for a moment and looks back to us. "Watch each other's backs and be careful."

Sam finally turns to face his brother, "You too."

Dean looks at his brother and nods, then to me. I smile at him, silently telling him its okay. He nods once more and closes the door behind him.

Sam lets out a huge sigh once the door is closed.

Immediately I stomp over to him, reaching up I cuff him on the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Sam whines rubbing the point of impact.

"You know exactly what that was for!" I grunt through my teeth.

"Then why did you stay?"

"Because if anything happens to you, Dean wouldn't be able to live with himself; and neither would I."

"Yeah well, Dean won't have to be living with himself much longer." Sam mumbles.

My eyes widen at the words that just came out of his mouth. "Excuse me? Can you repeat that - I must have residual bullshit stuck in my ears?!"

"Well it's true! He's not doing anything to help himself out of his deal!"

"Gee Sam - I wonder why? Oh that's right if either of you try anything, deals off and you die!"

"But you can!"

"Do you think I don't know that?" I practically scream. "But if Dean doesn't want to have to hack and slash people up, to replace non-functioning parts of himself to be immortal, then I'm not going to do it."

"So much for doing whatever it takes." Sam spits out harshly.

His words hit me with so much force I feel like I've had the wind knocked out of me. "Yeah, Sam. Let's save Dean this way and in the process become the monsters we hunt. Grand fucking idea."

Sam doesn't say anything; he just stares through me like he isn't registering what I'm saying. Without a word he grabs his wallet and his jacket making his way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I call after him.

He stops but doesn't turn around to answer, "Getting a car. Meet me outside in fifteen minutes." With that he slams the door behind him.

* * *

Sam exits off the main road and we make our way down a small untraveled path. Putting the car into park he flips the visor down and grabs the map to check it once more.

"Let's go." He grabs his bag and opens his door, exiting the car, I follow suit huffing as I go.

We walk in silence, neither of us wanting to be the first to give in after our argument. I don't want to fight with Sam, he's like my brother but he's being reckless and I can't allow it.

It only takes us about half of an hour to find the cabin on the map but it's getting dark. Reaching into his bag he pulls out two flashlights and hands one to me. Swiftly we make our way up the front porch and through the front door, surprisingly it's not locked.

"Elena you take the left, see what you can find." Sam instructs as he moves in the opposite direction.

There isn't much to take in, mostly old stuff, dust covered, smelling like dirt and moth balls. While moving, I find a door.

"Sam." I call as I open it.

I descend down the steps with Sam at my heels, the first thing we see is a man's body lying on an operating table – dead. I hear a small noise from behind a ragged curtain, with my head I motion to it to Sam. Moving closer he pulls the curtain aside to reveal a woman, strapped down to another operating table. Her arm is stretched out beside her, covered in maggots, a piece of skin missing. Desperately I choke back the bile I feel rising in my throat. Sam reaches out with two fingers for a pulse point on her neck, the woman gasps at his touch, her eyes spring open startling us both. The woman is whimpering and on the verge of tears.

" _Shh. Shh. Shh._ It's okay. We're here to help you." I try and keep voice as soothing as possible.

Sam rummages around and finds a cloth, he wraps it around her arm; she cries out in pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Sam murmurs softly.

As I'm removing the strap from around her head, I hear a sound from the top of the stairs. "Sam, he's coming."

She starts to cry, instinctively I cover her mouth, but I think he Doctor hears and starts down the stairs. A small bobbing light is making its way closer to us. Sam picks her up into his arms and runs toward a small window, "Go." He whispers quickly but quietly.

Hoisting myself up I manage to wiggle out of the basement and back into the forest. Sam gingerly lifts the girl up and I grab her from the outside pulling her the rest of the way through. Sam struggles a bit to fit through the tiny space but he does, picking the wounded woman up we both break into a sprint trying to make it to the car.

Rounding the last corner the car comes into view, Sam clicks the remote unlocking the doors. He tosses the keys to me yelling for me to start the car. I climb into the passenger seat, reaching over I shove the key into the ignition and the car roars to life. Sam lies the woman down as gently as possible in the back seat before making his way around to the driver's side.

Behind Sam's head I can see movement; I call out his name but it's one second too late. Benton uses a piece of ply wood to smash the driver's side window in. Sam and I both cover our heads to avoid glass getting in our face. The disfigured man grabs Sam by the hair and slams his head against the steering wheel, over and over and over. The car flies backward; Sam must have his foot on the gas. Benton stumbles and falls to the ground but before he can get up, Sam has the car in drive. Flooring it - he drives straight over the Doctor.

"Oh my god!" I place my trembling hands over my mouth. "Do you think we killed him?"

"Doubt it." Sam answers his voice even.

"What are we going to do with her?" I ask gesturing to the whimpering girl in the backseat.

"Drop her at a hospital, and then we're going back to the motel to study this." Sam pulls a journal from his jacket pocket and tosses it in my lap.

I pick it up, it's old and worn it looks hundreds of years old, "What is it?"

"With any luck, the good Doctor's ticket to immortality."

* * *

After we made sure the girl was in good hands we made it back to the motel. Sam is reading the journal intently, and I'm just waiting for Dean to call.

My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket, _my prayers have been answered_. Quickly I hit the answer key and speak.

"Dean!"

"Hey Lena."

"Did you get the Colt?"

"No… I didn't."

"So, does that mean you killed Bela?"

"No, no, she deserves to die a dozen times over, but I couldn't do it."

"It's not who you are, Dean. You're not that kind of man."

Dean doesn't respond right away, but when he does his voice is shaky and broken. "I'm really screwed, Lena."

"Dean, no you're-"

"Sam was right. Bela was a wild goose chase. The Colt's gone, and this time I'm really screwed."

Reaching up I pinch the bridge of my nose, _better tell him now._ "Maybe not. Sam and I found Benton's cabin."

"You okay?" His voice picks up a little. "Was he there?"

"Yeah he was there."

"Did you kill him?"

"No."

"What do you mean, _no_?" Dean asks harshly.

"There was a girl and she was alive; it's a long story. I'm going to give you to Sam, I'm sure he's found something in this journal by now." A few steps put me next to Sam. I hand him the phone and he starts to talk.

"Dean, hey. Listen to me, I found his lab book and inside it has the formula."

…

"Yeah."

…

"No, that's the thing. It's not black magic. There's no blood sacrifice or anything. It's just science, Dean. Very, very extremely weird science, but..."

…

"Dean, I think it might be doable. I mean, I know we've hit a lot of walls, but I...I think this formula, I think it might be it. This could save you."

…

"Well, I mean, look, look, we're not in the clear yet. There are still things that I don't get..."

Sam is cut off by my muffled scream. I can feel myself fading, the rag over my mouth is removed and my body crumples to the floor. The last thing I see is Sam dropping the phone and everything goes dark.

* * *

When I come to I almost immediately recognize where I am: the basement of the cabin. I try to move but I'm strapped down to a table. I can feel that my eyes are getting dry – they're taped open. I struggle against my restraints to no avail.

"You can relax. It's all gonna be okay. Ain't nothin' gonna happen here that you got to worry about, Elena." The voice moves and I can see Doc Benton standing over me with what looks like a melon baller in his hands. "Your chances of coming out of this procedure alive are very, very high."

"How do you know my name?" I barely squeak.

"I know lots of things - immortal and all."

"So what? You're just going to take my eyes right out of their sockets?" I question still struggling to loosen the straps on my wrists. Out of fear and anxiety, my eyes constantly dart every which way and they almost burn with the aching pain.

"This whole eternal-life thing is very high-maintenance. If something goes bad, like my eyes here...you got to replace them. And sometimes things get damaged, like when John Winchester cut out my heart. Now that was very inconvenient." He drawls, out of the corner of my taped open eye I can see the scoop being heated over a flame.

"Sam?! Are you here?" I yell out into the air.

"Yeah, Elena I'm here. You okay?" Sam calls back.

"Yeah I'm f-" I don't get to finish. The Doctor's hand is over my mouth and my sentence is muffled.

"Enough." He commands as he removes his hand. "You think I'm some kind of monster, don't you? Well, I got to tell you; I have never done one thing that I did not have to do. But I think it's time we got this whole thing started."

I can feel the heat wafting off of the hot spoon that is now extremely close to my eye. I don't want to scream but I can't help it, it escapes my lungs as the instrument is mere millimeters away from my eye ball.

Three shots ring out through the basement. The scoop is pulled back from my eye and Benton turns away from me.

"Shoot all you want."

I can hear the Doctor moving, and the gunman lets loose two more bullets. The Doctor throws the person into the wall and I hear a thud as they hit the ground. When they groan from the impact I recognize it immediately, I'd know it anywhere – _Dean_.

A moment later I hear a plunge, followed by a laugh. "A knife? What part of _immortality_ do you not understand? Pity about the heart, though. It was a brand-new one."

"Good." Dean spits out. "It should be pumping nice and strong, sending this stuff throughout your whole body. See, I picked up your little bottle upstairs and dipped the knife in it."

All I can hear is choking and gasping followed by a thump. Moments later the tape is peeled from my eyelids, allowing them to relax. I close them eagerly and my tear ducts release to desperately hydrate my eyes. I can feel the restraints on my wrist being cut, I force myself to open my weak eyes and see Dean.

" _Lena_." He breathes.

I nearly launch myself off of the table and into his arms, clutching him tightly. Dean returns the gesture, his arms right around me as he whispers, "I told you to be careful."

"We were… I'm just glad you're here."

Dean doesn't respond with words, he presses a kiss into my hair and releases me. "Let's get Sammy."

* * *

When the Doctor wakes he finds the roles are now reversed. He's strapped to the table where Sam had been with Dean leaning over him, smirking.

"Oh, hiya, Doc. Wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-y."

"Please." Benton pleads.

"Please what? You've been killing poor bastards for over 150 years and now you got a request? Shut up."

"No, you don't understand. I can help you. I know what you need."

"We might have to cut him up into little bits." Dean points out as he plays with the blade in his hands. "You know, this immortality thing is a bitch."

"I can read the formula for you. You know...immortality...Forever young, never die."

Dean's concentration on the Doctor doesn't break.

Sam is staring at his brother, watching his every move. "Dean…"

He finally looks up. "Sam."

Sam walks out of the room, nodding at us to follow. Dean immediately rolls his eyes but follows anyway, I'm right behind.

"What?" Dean gruffs out.

"I mean, we're talking hell in three weeks. Or needing a new pancreas in like half a century." Sam's tone is insistent but Dean isn't buying it.

"Yeah, well, you can't exactly get those at a Kwik-E-Mart."

"It's not perfect, but it buys us more time to think of something better. We just need time, Dean. I mean, please, just...just think about it."

Dean deadpans. "No."

"Dean, don't you want to live?" Sam looks directly to me then back to his brother.

Dean looks at me, his eyes desperate but only for a moment before a flicker of changes washes over him. "What he is isn't living. Look, this is simple. Black or white; human, not human."

He walks back over to Benton, picking up a rag he covers it in chloroform and places it over his mouth. "See, what the Doc is, is a freakin' monster. I can't do it. I would rather go to hell."

He looks to me again, I know he's just doing what he thinks is the right thing, so I nod so he knows its okay.

"Now, I'm gonna take care of him. You can either help me or not. It's up to you."

* * *

The car ride is quiet, after burying the Doctor we hit the road again. I'm honestly glad to be back on the road, being in the Impala now feels like home, and with everything going on a dose of home is what I need.

We set everything up; Dean knew Bela was coming after us so we just played her first. He dialed the number to the motel room we were in and placed the phone on speaker.

"Hiya, Bela. Here's a fun fact you may not know. I felt your hand in my pocket, when you swiped that motel receipt." Dean's voice came out of his mouth almost comical.

Bela's voice is broken and worn down as it comes through the speaker, "You don't understand."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I understand perfectly. See, I noticed something interesting in your hotel room. Something tucked above the door. An herb. Devil's shoestring? There's only one use for that. Holding hellhounds at bay. So you know what I did, I went back and I took another look at your folks' obit. Turns out they died ten years ago today. You didn't kill them. A demon did your dirty work. You made a deal, didn't you, Bela. And it's come due. Is that why you stole the Colt, huh? Try to wiggle out of your deal, our gun for your soul?"

"Yes." She whispers.

"But stealing the Colt wasn't enough, I'm guessing." I nearly snarl from the back seat.

"They changed the deal. They wanted me to kill Sam."

"Really! Wow, demons untrustworthy. Shocker. That's, uh, kind of a tight deadline too – what time is it?" Dean taps the clock on the dashboard. "Well, look at that, almost midnight."

Bela's crying now, her breathing ragged. "Dean, listen, I need help. I know I don't deserve it."

Dean's wrings his hands around the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as he drives. "You know what, you're right, you don't. But you know what the bitch of the bunch is? If you would have just come to us sooner and asked for help we probably could have taken the Colt and saved you."

"I know, and saved yourself." Bela sniffles. "I know about your deal, Dean."

"And who told you that?"

"The Demon that holds it. She holds mine too. She said she holds every deal."

"She?"

"Her name's Lilith."

That stops all of us in our tracks, as we exchange glances it feels like the air has been sucked out of the car.

"Lilith?" Dean spits the word out like it left distaste in his mouth. "Why should I believe you?"

"You shouldn't but it's the truth."

"This can't help you, Bela, not now. Why you telling me this?"

"Because just maybe you can kill the bitch."

Dean pauses for a moment before responding, "I'll see you in hell."

He snaps the phone shut and throws it at the seat but it doesn't stop there. He hits the steering wheel while a slew of obscenities flow from his mouth. Soon enough, Sam and I both screaming at him to pull over. Thankfully he does.

Dean jumps out of baby, punching her frame and kicking her tires as he goes. I tell Sam to stay in the car while I scramble to get out and following him.

"Dean!"

He doesn't stop, he keeps walking.

"Dean!"

"What?!" He roars turning around, nearly running at me.

I say nothing; his face is inches from mine. His breathing hot and ragged in my face, his eyes full of anger, but the anger quickly melts into tears forming in his eyes. Sinking to his knees he lets the tears flow, I lower myself next to him and he falls into my arms, his tears hot on my skin.

We don't speak because once we say it out loud, it becomes real.

And the reality is - our fight is over.


	11. And the Clock Strikes

_May 1, 2008_

We lay a map of the United States on the table. Bobby set up this old tracking device over the map. The device has three wooden legs coming out from a glass ball at the top. The ball has a flat metal piece surrounding it, symbols engraved all over it. From the ball hangs a pendulum and at the end it comes to a sharp point.

"So you need a name, that's the whole kit and caboodle. With the right name, right ritual - ain't nothing you can't suss out." Bobby informs us as he places his hands on the table.

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Sam asks.

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street."

Bobby begins the ritual, tapping the pendulum; it swings over the map as he chants in Latin. We all watch in silence, waiting for it to stop to tell us what we need. The pendulum searches over the map silently until it comes to a sudden stop.

"New Harmony, Indiana." Bobby huffs. "And we have a winner."

"Alright." Sam pushes the pendulum away and stands. "Let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on." Dean throws up his hands to stop his brother. "Let's holster up there, Tex."

Sam stops and stares at his brother intently. "What's the problem?"

" _What's the problem?_ Come on, where do I begin?" Dean's using that bored, cocky tone that always drives authority figures crazy. "I mean, first of all: we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked. Okay. Second: even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And third: isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

"Ain't you just bringing down the room." Bobby's words are laced with accusations.

Dean shrugs, "Yeah, well, it's a gift."

"So what are we supposed to do, Dean?" I question. "We know where she is, or at least _think_ we know. It's worth a shot."

"Just 'cause I gotta die doesn't mean you have to, okay. Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Okay, fine." Sam crosses his arms over his chest. "If that's the case I have the answer."

"You do?" I ask raising my eye brows slightly.

"Yeah. A sure-fire way to confirm it's Lilith and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu."

"Damn it, Sam, no." Dean's on edge, his rising pitch makes that very clear. He moving toward the door, but I can tell he isn't trying to leave. His movements are too edgy: full of the excess energy.

"We're so past arguing. Dean, I am summoning Ruby." Sam argues.

Dean swings around, facing his brother head on. "The hell you are! We have enough problems as it is."

"Dean." Stepping toward him I place my hand on his shoulder. "We're running out of time, we don't have much of a choice here."

"Come on, Lena, she is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, okay. She told Sam that she could save me, huh – lie. She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention, oh right – Lilith owns my soul!" Dean shakes my hand off of his shoulder.

"Okay, fine. She's a liar. But she still has that knife."

"Dean." Bobby cautions but Dean doesn't hear it.

"For all we know, she works for Lilith." Dean's emotions are obviously getting the better of him.

"Then give me another option, Dean." His brother pleads. "Tell me what else."

"Sam's right." Bobby interjects again.

"NO! DAMN IT!" Dean's voice reverberates through the room; I've never seen him so angry.

Silence falls over as we all look to Dean.

"Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys wanna save me, find something else." His ranting ends with him stalking over to the table and sitting down, a contemplative look on his face.

Bobby sighs and grabs his jacket.

"Where are you going, Bobby?" I whisper.

Frustrated the older man throws out his arms as he heads towards the door. "I guess to... find something else."

"I need some air." Sam swipes his jacket from the chair and storms out after Bobby.

The silence stretches across us and it is almost painful. Turning to Dean, I ask him in a careful tone: "So what are we going to do?"

Dean looks up at me with a smile on his face.

* * *

As I walk down the stairs to the basement I hear Sam's voice.

"Ad construgendum ad ligandum eos pariter Et solvendum."

The last step creaks giving me away. Sam quickly turns around and breathes a sigh of relief. "I thought you were Dean."

"If I were Dean this," I say pointing to the symbols and candles. "Would not be happening."

"Why are you here then, Elena."

"This is me doing whatever it takes."

Sam looks at me intently and nods his head. He picks up the box of matches and turns back to his spell.

"Et ad congregantum eos coram me."

He strikes a match and eyes it for a moment before dropping it into the bowl. The contents ignite and flames rise out of it. It only lasts a second before the fire burns out. Sam stands up dusting off his jeans and I move next to him to wait.

"You know, phones work too."

We turn around and see Ruby leaning against the doorframe, smiling at us.

"Hey, Sam, Elena. How's tricks?"

I can feel my eyes narrowing as I ask, "How do you get around so fast?"

"I got the Super Bowl jet pack." Ruby sassed before returning her attention to Sam. "So. You called?"

"Did you know?" Sam asks.

"Um – gonna need a tiny bit more."

"About Dean's deal. That Lilith holds the contract." Sam's voice booms.

"Yes, I did."

"And… what? You didn't think that was important?"

"You weren't ready."

"Ready for what?"

"If I told you, you yahoos would have just charged after her half-cocked and Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty, pretty faces."

"Well we're ready now." I assure her stepping forward with my hand out, "Give me the knife."

Ruby looks at me, cocking her head with a smile; she starts to move around the room. "You're right about one thing, _Sam_ is ready. And now's the time, too. Lilith's guard is down. She's on shore-leave. A little R &R."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know. You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you?"

"We've got 'em." Sam huffs.

"Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."

Sam and I turn to face her; she's made her way behind us now. "So you'll give us the knife?"

"No."

"But you just said-"

"You wanna charge in with one little pigsticker?" Ruby chides stepping toward us. "It's a waste of a true-blue window. Like getting Hitler with that exploding briefcase. Forget it."

"Okay, then how?" Sam asks, his voice rising.

"I know how to save your brother, Sam."

"No, you don't! You told Dean you couldn't! You've been lying to me all along - so just give me your damn knife!"

"You're not the one I've been lying to."

"Oh, so you can save him?"

"No. But _you_ can."

Sam shakes his head in disbelief. "What?!"

"Sam, you've got some God-given talent. Well, not " _God_ "-given but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap? That's gone ever since Yellow-Eyes died."

Ruby shakes her head, "Not gone, dormant. And not just visions either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

"Right... she's scared of _me_." Sam scoffs.

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle."

"I don't believe you." I add jumping in. "You're just deciding to tell us all this _now?_ "

"Um... demon." Ruby mocks pointing to herself. "Manipulative's kinda in the job description. Fact is, is that you would have never considered it. Not until you were –"

"Desperate enough." Sam and I finish the sentence at the same time.

"Look. Call me a bitch, hate me all you want, but I have never lied to you, Sam. Not ever. And I'm telling you. You... can save your brother, and I can show you how."

"So that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda." Dean's voice picks up from behind Ruby.

"Dean." Ruby turns to him, all the softness in her voice gone. "Charming as ever."

"Aw, I knew you'd show up. Because I knew Sam wouldn't listen. But you're not gonna teach him anything, you understand me? Over my dead body."

Ruby laughs harshly, "Oh. Well, you're right about that."

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife. And then you can just go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother me, my brother, or Elena again. Are we clear?"

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him and we'd be stupid not to use it." Ruby yells stepping toward Dean.

"Dean, look, just hold on for one -" Sam starts but Dean cuts him off, anger lacing his words.

"Sam! Don't. Come on man, what, are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?"

"That's not true!" Ruby persists.

Dean ignores her and continues with his brother. "She wants you to give into this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little anti-christ Super Star."

"I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?" I ask viciously.

"I've told you why!"

"Oh yeah, right. Because you were human once. That's a load of bullshit and you know it Ruby."

"You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you." She looks to me then to Dean. "Both of you. You wanna save Dean?" Ruby steps to me, only inches from my face. "Then this is _how_ \- you stupid, two-bit whore."

My eyes grow wide and calmly I turn from her as if I'm leaving - but I don't. Quickly I turn back; swinging a right hook, I punch her square in the jaw.

The hit causes Ruby to stumble back a few steps, she looks up at me wiping the blood from her lips. Wasting no time, she rushes at me, punching me in the face, once with her right fist, then her left.

"Ruby, hey!" Sam calls out.

Ruby lashes out, hitting him in the back causing him to double over. That leaves him open, she knees Sam in the face and it sends him sliding across the floor into a beam.

As she turns back around she meets Dean. He hits her in the face once with his left, as he goes to swing with his right, Ruby ducks out of the way, using Dean's momentum she knees him in the stomach following with a kick to the face, causing him to fall to the floor.

From behind I rush at her, lifting my leg I kick her right in the spine causing her to stumble forward. Ruby whips around kicking me in the face, sending me flying, I roll to a stop near Dean. Dean grabs my hand and helps me from the floor with a grin on his face.

"What the hell are you grinning at?" Ruby pants angrily.

"Missing something?" Dean taunts.

I pull out her knife and waggle it in front of her.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Ruby rushes at us but stops short, like she's hitting an invisible wall. She looks to us then up to the roof to see a painted Devil's trap.

"Like he said, we knew you'd come." I hand the knife to Dean and he places it in his waistband.

Dean makes his way to the stair case with me at his heels.

"Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?" Ruby screams at us.

Dean stops for a moment, waiting for Sam, "Let's go."

Sam takes a deep breath and nods, that's all Dean needed. We make our way up the stairs as Ruby screeches at us from below.

"Oh, oh you – so you're just too stupid to live, is that it? Then fine! You deserve hell! I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I WISH I COULD BE THERE TO HEAR YOU SCREAM!"

"And I wish you'd shut your pie hole," Dean rolls his eyes and adds. " _but we don't always get what we want_."

* * *

All of our weapons are laid out on the table in front of us; mine look odd among the mix, the flecks of purple dancing in the sunlight – but it feels right.

Dean and I are loading clips into each gun carefully as Sam just watches.

"So are we just going to let Ruby rot down there?" Sam sighs from behind us.

"That's the plan." I respond clicking the clip into place.

"You played me, Elena."

Placing the gun on the table I turn to face Sam, "It's not like I had much of a choice at this point. You were forcing my hand, Dean's too."

"But what if Ruby's right? What if I can take out Lilith?"

Dean stops what he's doing and responds, "What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes "poof"?"

"I don't know what Ruby meant. You know maybe we should just go ask her."

"Sam, you wanted the knife - Lena and I got you the knife."

"Dean, just listen to me for a second. Last time Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass, and all we got is one little knife? I mean, like you said, we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Well, this ain't smart."

"Elena, Dean, we got one shot at this, _just one._ So if there's a sure-fire way then maybe we should just talk about it."

"Sam. We are not gonna make the same mistake all over again."

"You said that but what does it even mean?" Sam pleads.

"Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is up the creek the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, man. Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going." Dean sighs and sits down in a chair beside the weapons, picking up another gun and checking it.

Sam shakes his head and walks to the other side of the table, sitting beside his brother. "Dean - what do you think is gonna happen? This is me. I can handle it."

Dean stops what he's doing, looks down at the floor but doesn't answer.

"And if it'll save you..."

"Why even risk it?" Dean manages to get out.

"Because you're my brother. Because you did the same thing for me."

"I know." Dean scoffs lightly. "Look how that turned out."

"So what? We just stop looking out for each other?"

"No, we stop being martyrs, man. We – we – we stop spreading it for these demons."

Dean reaches out to me, gesturing toward the knife. Flipping it around I hand it to him handle end first. He grabs it and holds it up in front of us. "We take this knife, and we go after Lilith our way. The way Dad taught us to. The way we taught Lena to. And if we go down, then, uh... then we go down swinging. What do you think?"

Sam takes a moment before looking at his brother with a tiny smile. "I think you totally should have been jamming ' _Eye of the Tiger'_ right there."

"Oh, bite me." Dean laughs as he rises from the chair. "I totally rehearsed that speech, too."

Sam smiles at that, "So, Indiana huh?"

"Apparently, Lilith is on shore leave." I answer as I pack up the weapons

"Tell me something." Dean looks to Sam then to me as he hands me a machete. "What the hell does a demon do for fun?"

* * *

I toss the last bag in the trunk and slam it closed. Dean looks to me with a wary glance, I mouth 'I'm sorry' back at him – _so protective of his car._

Sam is in the passenger seat as Dean and I close our doors and settle in. Dean sticks the key in the ignition and tries to start Baby but she isn't having it. He tries to turn her over a few more times to no avail. Suddenly Bobby appears at the driver's side window, causing all three of us to jump.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bobby asks through the window, holding up the distributor cap in his hands.

"Crap." Dean mumbles as he reaches for handle.

We all file out of the car, Bobby is pissed but so is Dean.

"We got the knife."

"And you intend to use it without me." Bobby takes a step toward Dean, his voice rising slightly. "Do I look like a ditchable prom-date to you?"

"Bobby, no. Of course not." I try to reassure him.

Dean sighs before addressing Bobby. "This is about me, okay? This isn't your fight."

"The hell it isn't!" Bobby's yelling now. "Family don't end with blood, boy. Besides, you need me."

"Bobby…"

"You're playing wounded. Tell me, how many hallucinations have you had so far?"

Sam and I look to him, confused as to what he's talking about.

Dean doesn't meet our gaze; he just keeps staring at Bobby, "How'd you know?"

"Because that's what happens when you've got hellhounds on your butt." Bobby shrugs. "And because I'm smart."

Bobby hands Dean back the cap. "I'll follow. Don't be stoppin' to pee every ten minutes either."

Dean shakes his head and walks over to the hood.

* * *

The car ride is mostly silent; the darkness enveloping the car easily hides our faces - our real emotions. We've only been on the road for maybe an hour before the red and blue flashing lights begin to reflect throughout the car.

"Are we getting pulled over? Are you speeding?" I ask Dean while leaning forward to get a better look at the odometer.

"No I'm not speeding. I've got a busted tail-light." Dean checks his side view mirror as he begins to slow the Impala. "It's not like we're in a hurry or anything." He adds sarcastically as we come to a halt.

Dean rolls down his window as Sam rummages around in the glove compartment, handing his brother a license and matching registration. The officer walks up to the window, flashlight in hand.

"Problem officer?"

"License and registration, please."

Dean doesn't even look out the window while handing the papers out, he keeps his eyes focused inside the car.

"Do you realize you have a tail-light out, Mr. Hagard?" The officer asks.

Dean finally looks up to the officer, but I see his face – something's not right.

"Yes…yes sir. Uh, you know I've been meaning to take care of that. As a matter of fact…" Dean's hand flies to the door handle. Opening his door sharply, he hits the officer in the stomach with it, nearly jumping out of the car.

"Dean!" I shriek out in fear and confusion.

Sam and I rush out of the car as Dean is continually punching the cop in the face. Sam reaches out toward his brother to stop him but in one swift motion Dean pulls the demon knife from his belt and thrusts it up and through the bottom of the officers' jaw.

My hands immediately make their way to cover my mouth, muffling a scream, the officers' body begins to flicker orange just like the demon I killed a few months back did. I can see headlights approaching out of my peripherals but I don't acknowledge them. Dean yanks the knife from where it's buried, letting go of the officer he falls to the ground – dead.

Dean's panting, arm still raised like he's ready for another round. Quickly I move around to the side with the knife, gently taking it from his hand. He looks to me, eyes wild. I meet his gaze with the most calming look I can muster; it must work because I can see Dean melting back into himself, his breathing adjusting back to a normal rate.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby's voice rings out as he makes his way up to us.

Sam barely moves his eyes still locked on the dead body. "Dean just killed a demon. How'd you know?"

"I just… knew. I could see its face. Its real face under that one."

Bobby looks up from the body at and up at us. "Well, better get his car out of sight."

We moved the police car off the road into the woods, we're covering it with branches when Sam asks, "So what, now you're seeing demons?"

"I've seen all kinds of things lately but... nothing like this." Dean grunts, tossing another branch onto the car.

"Actually it's not all that crazy." Bobby adds.

"How is it not that crazy?"

"Well you've got, just over five hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B side."

"A little less new age-y please."

"You're almost hell's bitch. So, you can see hell's other bitches."

Tossing my last branch onto the car, I dust my hands off. "That could actually come in handy."

"Oh well, I'm glad my doomed soul is good for something." Dean grumbles.

"Damn right it is." Bobby points out as he turns back towards the road. The three of us follow. "Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let them sound the alarm. She knows we're here and we're dead before we're started."

Dean opens the Impala door and sits inside. "Well, this is a terrific plan. I'm _so_ excited to be a part of it." He closes the door then adds, "Can we go please?"

* * *

_New Harmony, Indiana_   
_May 2, 2008_

Dean is searching the houses on the street with binoculars when he stops on a house with the front curtains open.

"It's the little girl. Her face is awful." Dean spits out, distaste lining his words.

"Alright then, let's go. We're wasting time." Sam brushes past us quickly, making his way toward the house.

"Wait!" Dean grabs hold of his brother's arm to stop him from leaving.

"For what? For it to kill the rest of them?"

"Yeah, and us too if we're not careful. Look." Dean hands his brother the binoculars. "See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at nine PM?"

Sam holds them up to his eyes, checking out the mail man who is sorting mail in the back of his truck.

Dean guides his brother to the left and points. "And Mr. Rogers over there."

"Demons?" I ask quietly.

"Yes."

"Ok, fine. We – we – we – we, we ninja pass those guys, sneak in." Sam sputters out, trying to formulate a plan in his head.

"Then what? Give a "Columbian necktie" to a ten year old girl, come on!"

"Look, Dean, I know it's awful."

"You think?" Dean retorts.

"This isn't just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everybody."

Bobby places his hand on Dean's shoulder gingerly, "She's gotta be stopped, son."

Dean sighs, contemplating his choices. "Oh, damn it. Alright here's the plan."

* * *

"They're coming." I whisper to Sam.

Sam looks to me and asks, "Are you ready for this?"

I nod my head, clutching the knife firmly in my hand.

Dean rounds the corner of the house. The mail man is only moments behind and barrels straight into Sam. Sam grabs him by the arms, holding them in place behind his back. I step out from the shadows and without hesitating I force the knife into his gut, twisting it for good measure. My hand makes its way to cover his mouth so he can't alarm the rest of the demons. His body is flickering orange as I pull the knife out, Sam releases his arms and the mail man drops to the ground.

Behind us I can hear Dean grunting and struggling, turning I see him grappling with "Mr. Rogers". The old man's back is to me. It only takes me two steps to get directly behind him and shove the knife in his back. Orange flickers as I pull the knife out. I wipe the bloody blade onto the arm of my jacket as Dean grabs the feet to drag the body out of view.

"Let's go." Dean whispers as he takes off running.

I take off after him, trailing him to a fence where Ruby pops out, shoving him against it, and holding him there.

"I'd like my knife back, please. Or your neck snaps like a chicken bone." Ruby growls.

Since Dean had a head start she didn't know I was behind him. I lift the knife up to her throat.

"He doesn't have it. Let him go." I whisper in her ear.

Ruby releases her grip and puts he hands in the air backing away from Dean. Dean adjusts his jacket as Sam comes up behind us.

"How the hell did you get out?"

"What you don't know about me could fill a book."

Dean suddenly cringes; he moves his head back a bit, his eyes wide. "Whoa."

"What?" Ruby snaps.

Dean averts his eyes to me before answering. "Nothing. I just – I couldn't see you before, but you're one ugly broad."

Ruby clenches her jaw but ignores his comment; turning to me she extends her arm, palm open. "Elena, give me the knife before you hurt yourself."

"You'll get it when this is over." I tell her firmly.

"It's already over." She spits out retracting her hand. "I gave you a way to save Dean, you shot me down. Now it's too late. He's dead."

"I will kill you, you bitch." I spit out.

"Hit me with your best shot, baby."

"Shut up you two!" Dean hisses, but he's not looking at us. He's looking around at the houses on the street, sets of people are stopped and staring our direction - eyes black.

"So much for the element of surprise."

Sam reaches for the latch on the fence pushing it open. "Go. Go. Run. Run!"

I lead us out; sprinting toward the house that Lilith is in with everyone at my heels. But they're not at my heels for long - Sam speeds past me, becoming the first one to reach the house he's on his knees trying to pick the lock.

"What the hell is taking Bobby?" Dean asks breathlessly as he's the last to arrive.

Demons are making their way toward us from all directions, one of them decides to make the first move by stepping onto the lawn, but almost immediately the sprinklers turn on and the demon begins to scream and flail – holy water.

Dean laughs and rubs his hands together cheerfully as Sam continues to work on the lock. Once Sam finally pops it, he and Ruby are the first to make their way inside. Dean flips the demons his middle fingers with a smile before following me into the house. Sam, Ruby and I are all stopped in the hallway looking down at the floor as Dean shuts the door. He turns around to face the horror that we already are, an older woman, dead, flies buzzing around her lifeless body.

All the playfulness that Dean had outside is gone as quickly as it came, his game face is back and on again. "You think Lilith knows we're here?"

"Probably." Ruby bites the word off in a hushed tone.

"Sam." I whisper.

He turns to me and I hand him the knife, he nods. Taking the knife he holds it out as if it were a gun moving across the room.

A creak of a door causes us all to flip around; a man has come out of the cabinet. Dean quickly captures him and puts a hand over his mouth, shushing him softly.

"We're here to help, okay?" Dean whispers. "I'm gonna move my hand and we're gonna talk nice and quiet, okay?"

After a moment the man nods his head yes, Dean slowly removes his hand.

"Sir, where is your daughter?" I ask him, keeping my voice as gentle as possible.

"It's not…" he pauses, attempting to gather himself. "It's not her anymore."

"Where is she?" Sam presses.

"Upstairs. In her bedroom."

"Okay, okay, okay. Listen to me. I want you to go downstairs to the basement. Put a line of salt at the door behind you. Do you understand me?" Dean asks him.

"Not without my wife."

"Yes, without your wife."

"No." the man responds sternly.

Dean cocks his head; quickly he pulls his arm back and punches the man in the face – an immediate knock out. He picks up the man up and hoists him over his shoulder. "Sam, Ruby, go look for that girl. Lena you're with me."

We all take our instructions and run with it. Sam and Ruby head up the stairs in search for Lilith and I grab salt from their kitchen as Dean makes his way down the basement stairs with the unconscious man. Once I get down the stairs Dean has already laid the man down onto the floor. His hands are twisted around themselves, fiddling aimlessly.

"Dean?"

He looks up from his hands and meets my gaze. He nearly jumps from where he stands; rushing at me our lips crash together, not unlike our first kiss. His lips hungrily exploring mine, as if he is trying to take in everything that I am – _a goodbye._

I break the kiss and pull back, almost whimpering, "This better not be you saying goodbye."

He doesn't respond, he just looks at me, like he's never going to see me again.

"Don't. Don't you dare, Dean."

"Lena…"

" _No_." I manage to choke out. "This isn't goodbye. So grab the salt Winchester and let's go. We've got a demon to kill and an ass to save – your ass."

Dean sighs and grabs the salt from my hands, laying a line down after I make my way up the stairs.

* * *

Luckily for the girl, Sam didn't stab her. Unluckily for us, Lilith is in another body with no way for us to find her.

"Alright, no matter what you hear. You, your husband and your daughter stay in the basement." Dean instructs the wife.

She nods, keeping her arm around her daughter she descends down the stairs with Dean shutting the door behind them.

"Well, I hate to say 'told you so.'" Ruby nearly gloats.

I cross my arms over my chest and pace the room, thinking of any possible way for Lilith to get in. "Could she get past the sprinklers?"

"Her pay grade, she ain't sweating the holy water."

"Okay, you win. What do I have to do?" Sam speaks up from behind Ruby.

"What do you mean?"

"To save Dean. What do you need me to do?"

Dean grabs his brother from behind, attempting to turn him around. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Sam pulls loose from his brother grip and growls. "Just shut up for a second. Ruby what do I need to do?"

"You had your chance." She scoffs. "You can't just flip a switch. We needed time.

"Well, there's gotta be something. There's gotta be some way, whatever it is, I'll do it."

Dean grabs his brother again, harder this time.

"Don't Dean! I'm not gonna let you go to hell!"

"Yes, you are!" Dean screams.

They look at each other for a beat before Dean repeats himself a little calmer this time. "Yes, you are."

Sam's eyes are building with tears as are mine. Dean and I had our moment but watching him do this with Sam is almost harder.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Keep fighting. Take care of my wheels. Take care of Lena. Remember what Dad taught you okay, Sam?"

Sam nods, holding back his tears.

"And remember what I taught you." Tears are forming in Dean's eyes as we hear the grandfather clock strike midnight.

Dean looks over at it, then to me and Sam. Both of us have tears spilling down our cheeks. Dean gives a small smile, trying to keep himself composed.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy." Ruby admits solemnly.

A growl fills the silent room. Dean's face immediately falls as he turns around to the general direction of the noise.

"Hellhound."

"Where?" I ask softly.

"There." Dean nods with his head.

Ruby turns, her face falling as she looks behind me. "Run!"

Dodging furniture we make our way out of the living room and up the stairs, Sam first, then Ruby, then Dean, and I'm last with the hellhound on our ass.

"C'mon Lena!" Dean cries out.

Sam and Ruby have already made it down the hallway and into an office. Dean is almost there but he turns to check on me to find that I've stopped running.

"Lena, what are you doing?"

I don't face him; I can't.

The pain is like fire. Sharp, hot, nails shred my side.

"NO!" I hear Dean cry out as I fall to the ground.

Another swipe goes right down my stomach, but I don't feel it anymore – I'm already numb.

There are hands around me, dragging me down the hall. My vision is fading in and out; I can barely hear Dean as the doors slam shut.

He's crumpled on the floor, tears freely flowing as he pulls me into his lap. "Stay with me, Lena. Lena!"

My eyes flutter at his voice, using all my strength I look at him and try and smile.

"Why baby. Why did you do this?" Dean's voice is cracking through his tears.

_Bobby hands Dean back the cap. "I'll follow. Don't be stoppin' to pee every ten minutes either."_

_Dean shakes his head and walks over to the hood._

" _Bobby, wait!" I call chasing after him._

_He stops and turns back to me. I jog to a stop; looking over my shoulder I make sure we're far enough away from the boys for them to hear anything._

" _I have a question."_

" _Well shoot. We ain't got all day."_

_Nervously I run my hand through my hair, "Theoretically, if a hell hound was coming after someone and someone else got in the way before the hell hound got to its intended victim, would they stop because they already got a soul?"_

_Bobby furrows his brow as his arms cross over his chest. "What is God's name are you planning, girl?"_

" _I'm just asking a completely theoretical question."_

" _Theoretically." He gruffs. "I suppose it's possible."_

_I nod gently, taking in the information. "Thanks, Bobby."_

" _Don't do anything stupid, Elena. Dean would never forgive himself if anything happened to you."_

" _Whatever_ it t-takes, if it's the last thing I d-do." I manage to get out as the blood pooled in my mouth.

* * *

Consciousness is escaping me; trying to force my eyes open is like trying to force open a steel door.

Pain is radiating from my wrists. My eyes flicker open for a moment, my wrists are cut open and bleeding – badly. My eyes slip closed for a moment, when I reopen them I take a better look around the room. Brick walls, the door has bars on it, there's light outside though.

I try and move but realize I can't. Rolling my eyes down I see chains wrapped around my arms and legs.

_Great._

The door creaks as it opens, a woman steps inside what I can only imagine to be my cell.

"Welcome to Hell." She says with a wicked smile on her face. "Alastair will see you now."

* * *

" _Lena_." I shake her gently - nothing.

"Elena!" I try a little louder – nothing.

Pulling her close I nuzzle my head into her hair, "No, no, no."

I feel no breath on my skin, just the warmth of her blood seeping through her clothes to mine.

"Dean." Sam says gently.

Ruby steps to Sam, speaking firmly. "Give me the knife, maybe I can fight it off."

"What?"

"Come on! That dust won't last forever!"

I lift my head from Elena's and look at them. "Wait!"

Ruby cocks her head. "You wanna die?"

I press a kiss onto her forehead before gently moving her from my lap to the ground and rising to my feet. "Sam, that's not Ruby."

Sam flips to her, without touching him Ruby flings him hard up against the wall pinning him there, the knife clutters to the floor.

Then she turns to me, flinging me on top of a table, I can't move but I grunt and force my head up to look at her. "How long have you been in her?"

Ruby's entire body language changes, it's now almost childlike. "Not long." Lilith looks down at Ruby's body as she speaks, "But I like it. It's all grown up and pretty."

Lilith looks up at me, her eyes entirely white.

"And where's Ruby?" Sam grunts out.

Lilith's eyes flip back to normal. "She was a very bad girl, so I sent her far, far away."

Lilith turns and makes her way over to Sam. "Hello, Sam. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time." She grabs hold of his chin, forcing him to face her. Against his will she kisses him, I can swear I hear sizzling coming from them.

"Your lips are soft." She whispers releasing his face.

"Right. So you have me, let my brother go."

"Silly goose." Lilith waggles her finger in Sam's face. "You wanna bargain, you have to have something that I want. You don't." She shrugs stepping back.

"So, is this your big plan? Drag me to hell. Kill Sam? Kill…" I focus my eyes on Elena's lifeless body, fighting back another round of tears. "Elena? And then what? Become Queen Bitch?"

"I don't have to answer to puppy chow. And your precious ' _Lena_ ' was just an added bonus." She moves to the door grabbing the door handle. "Sic 'em, boy."

Sam snaps his head to me and I return his look. Lilith opens the door, the goofer dust blows away as the hellhounds force their way in. Lilith laughs as they drag me by my legs off the table and onto the floor.

It begins at my legs; I can't control the screams that are erupting from my lungs.

"No! Stop!" I can barely hear Sam cry out as the hellhounds work their way to my chest.

Struggling I turn to my stomach, trying to crawl away.

_I'm weak, crawling away._

I feel the claws on my back and chest, my vision is starting to fade in and out.

_Not much longer now._

"No!"

I flip over once more, a kind of last ditch effort to escape but the nails dragging down my chest tell me otherwise.

_It's over._

I can feel the blood pouring out of my chest, I'm not screaming anymore, there's no sound left in me.

I'm fading, the light that people say that they see at the "end" - I'm seeing it.

My brother's voice is fading just as I am.

This is it.

My last brea-

" _Dean!"_

* * *

Everything is green in color; the air around me is cloudy. There are chains stretching from place to place, never ending. Thunder booms and lightning strikes all around as I scream. I can feel hooks in my skin, pulling me every-which direction.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I cry out desperately.

"SAMMY! ELENA! HELP!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all thank you to everyone who reads this, who have supported me since day one.  
> This story would be nothing without you all, seriously nothing.  
> It has been such an incredible journey, writing and just getting to know all of you.  
> I doubt many of you were expecting it to end this way. If you were bravo to you.  
> For those of you worried that this is over, it's not. This story is not over.  
> I will see you all soon and will keep you updated.
> 
> xoAmanda


	12. Just like that

**Hey everyone I know its been AWHILE buttttttt I'm back and I plan to finish this story to its completion, whatever that may be. I really hope that you enjoy this chapter, yes it's a tad short but I promise it will keep going and I will keep posting and not make everyone wait another year ;). As always thank you to my editor Jessica and I can't wait to hear your feedback.**  
Please follow, favorite, and review this story so you can be updated.  
xoAmanda

* * *

**Only a Year: The Demon Within  
**

_**Sam** _

_July 11, 2008_

Two months. It's been two months since I've lost them. I've poured myself over every book, every piece of lore that I could find and nothing, not one damn thing, not even a demon will deal.

It's all bullshit.

The silent room makes it easy for me to hear the vibrations coming from inside my bag. Moving from the spot on the chair that has molded to my ass by now, I dig through it until I reach the source and pull it free – Elena's phone. At this point she has hundreds of missed calls and texts from her friends and family. I know I should tell them that she's gone, or hell, text them and pretend to be her and tell them everything is fine, but I don't have the heart or stomach to.

I throw her phone back in bag and run my hands through my hair attempting to smooth out the disheveled mess when it hits me. I grab the phone back out of the bag and unlock it so I can look through her contacts. I locate the person I knew I needed to find.

I scribble down the address on my notepad then rip it free. Twenty minutes later the room is packed up and I'm throwing everything into the trunk of the Impala.

It's a long shot, I know it, but right now it's my only shot and I'm going to take it.

* * *

_July 13, 2008_

The familiar driveway sends chills down my spine. I put the Impala into park, remove the key from the ignition, open the door and step onto the pavement. It only takes me a few strides to reach the door but I can't seem to make my arm function enough to knock. But by some stroke of dumb luck the door swings open without me having to touch it, bringing me face to face with Elena's younger brother, Jeremy.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" Jeremy asks looking at me, then around me. "Where's my sister? And your brother?"

Uncomfortably I shift my weight on my feet before finding my voice and answer. "Can I come in? We need to talk."

His eyes pour into me before nodding and opening the door wider. I step inside and my eyes immediately fall onto a photo of Elena and Jeremy; it takes everything in me not to tear up.

"Where's my sister?" Jeremy doesn't hesitate to ask again. At this point I'm past asking for permission, I don't have it in me - I just flop down on their couch, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Jeremy follows my lead and sits in a chair across from me.

"She's gone, Jer."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"She thought that…" I pause as the memories come flooding back.

" _Lena, what are you doing?"_

"She thought that if the hellhounds that were coming for Dean took another soul before they got to him, they would let his soul go."

"And did they?"

_The nails shred into Elena's side, then stomach._

" _NO!" Dean cries out as she falls to the ground._

"No." I sigh. "They still took him."

" _DEAN!"_

"How long?" He asks staring me in the face. "How long has she been dead?

I lower my gaze to my hands as I rub them together. "Two months" I whisper.

"Two months?" Jeremy growls, jumping up from his seat. "Two months and you didn't think to tell her family?"

Raising my head I meet his angered gaze with ferocity of my own, "Do you know how hard it was for me to even come here today? To face her brother, the only family she had, and tell him that she sacrificed herself to save my brother and it was for nothing? To tell you that I couldn't protect her? Couldn't protect either of them?"

He doesn't move an inch so I continue. "So yeah Jeremy, it's been two months but that's why I'm here. The last time we were in town Stefan mentioned that you guys were friends with a witch, is that true?"

"Yes, it's true. My girlfriend Bonnie is a witch but what could she possibly help with?"

"I have an idea, but I'm going to need some serious power to make it happen. Can I meet her?"

* * *

Jeremy and I watch in silence as Bonnie recites a spell, in a form a Latin that even I'm having a bit of trouble understanding, as she suddenly stops.

"The spirits aren't listening."

"Was that it? Is that all we can do?" Jeremy pleads.

Bonnie sighs before nibbling on her lip, "There's something else I could try."

"What is it? What can we do to help?" I ask quickly.

She grabs her spell book and rises from the ground, "If the witches won't help me save Elena and Dean then maybe I can go to Hell and bring them back myself."

"Go to hell? Are you out of your mind?" Jeremy nearly shrieks at her. "Bonnie, that's risky even for a witch as powerful as you and even if you could do it how would you even get there? You're not dead?" Bonnie doesn't answer; her non response sends a shot of recognition over Jeremy's face. "No! No, Bonnie."

"I was able to stop your heart to stop Mikael; I'll do the same thing to myself. Witches have free reign on the Other Side." She explains.

"This isn't the Other Side!" Jeremy grabs her shoulders carefully, his voice trembling, "This is Hell!"

"It's just another plain of existence." She soothes.

"She's right Jeremy." I chime in, "It just another place, if she thinks she can do it we should try it."

"I will find Elena and Dean and bring them back with me."

"Assuming you wake up!"

"I'm stronger now. I found a new source of power."

"A new source of power?! What kind of power is going to let you kill yourself and bring not _one_ but _two_ people back with you from the dead?" Jeremy yells throwing his hands up in the air. "Oh and not just the dead - Hell to be exact?"

"Do we want them back or not, Jer?" Bonnie grits her teeth.

Jeremy lowers himself into more of a relaxed state as he backs down to his girlfriend.

"It's settled then. Let's get set up and get started."

* * *

The three of us gather on the floor, hands linking us into a circle, candles lined around us. "Phasmatus Ignitium." Bonnie breathes out the words as the flames of the candles hum to life. "Let's do this." I nod at her gently and squeeze her hand as she starts.

"Invocamus temaiores spiritus dirigatur ad inferni, conduc in animam meam. Invocamus te spiritus inferni mededuc me ad ostium."

Whispers surround us, swirling above our heads and invading our ear drums, the spirits are talking to us and it's an amazing experience that is swiftly ruined by Jeremy's voice.

"Oh my God." My eyes snap open to see Bonnie's nose bleeding profusely, but she doesn't waver she continues the incantation.

"Invocamus te maioresspiritus dirigatur ad inferni, conduc in animam meam. Invocamus tespiritus inferni mededuc me ad ostium."

"Bonnie," Jeremy pleads. "Bonnie, open your eyes. Bonnie, I can't let you do this! You're dying!" I feel helpless, useless, defeated. She's not going to stop but would I stop her even if I could? She chants louder as black veins creep up her arms making their way up her face.

"What the hell is that?" I ask cautiously. Bonnie begins to hyperventilate before collapsing to the ground. Jeremy and I release hands and I check her pulse – she's dead.

"Bonnie, no! Bonnie! Bonnie, wake up! Bonnie! Wake up!"

* * *

_**Bonnie** _

The air fills my lungs as I breathe back to life, well sort of - I must be in Hell. _"It worked."_

Brick walls on all sides, there is one door with bars on it, light shining through - utilizing it I look around. There are chains on one of the walls, at the end of the chains there are shackles for hands and feet. Rising from the ground I dust myself off and make my way to the chained wall as quietly as possible. Running my hand along it I find it's stained with blood, my heart begins to race - _Elena,_ she was tortured here. My stomach turns as I remove my hand from the wall. From the hall I hear footsteps approaching the room but before I can make a move to hide the door swings open, a loud creak from the rusty hinges filling the room. "Who do we have here?"

"Someone you probably don't want to mess with." I spit out hastily. The woman laughs heartily, "Oh you're one of _those_. How did you get here anyway?" She looks me up and down quizzically and shakes her head. "No matter, I'll take you to Aesema now."

"Aesema?"

"Someone you probably don't want to mess with." The woman mocks my words with a wicked smile. She motions behind her, "Grab her."

The men behind her slither forward, snaking their hands around my wrists. I don't fight it because I don't want to waste my lead me out of the brick room and down a hallway, if the screams of the tortured souls weren't unbearable enough, the pain I could physically feel from their screams is– it's sickening. I need to find Elena and Dean, fast because if this is Hell I can only imagine what is happening to them. We reach the end of the hall where another barred door awaited, the woman didn't have to open it, it opened for her like it just knew.

"Go. Aesema has been waiting for a new soul and she doesn't like to wait."

The men release my arms and jar me forward into the room, causing me to stumble and fall forward onto my knees with a thud. The door slams shut behind me leaving me in the room to face whoever this Aesema person is. Raising my eyes warily they meet a figure whose back is facing me but I can make out some features in the dim light.

The woman stands tall even though it's obvious she isn't, her long brown hair flowed down nearly to her waist but is tied neatly into a braid – almost meticulously – white tank top and olive green pants tucked into combat boots, the hands that were crossed behind her back held a curved blade with purple flecks in the handle.

"Stand." The woman commanded.

I don't move; I'm frozen by the sound of that voice, _No it can't be._

"I said _**stand**_ before Aesema." She boomed as she flipped around to face me.

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, seeing her face once again. "Elena?"

The shock washed over her face like a wave, the demeanor that she was holding onto cracked as she steps toward me. "Bonnie?"

"Oh my god." Reaching out I pull her down to me and into my arms, I sense a brief moment of hesitation but she melts into my arms anyway. "What happened to you?" I ask as I release her from my embrace.

"That's a… long story and really not important right now. What is important is how the hell, you're in Hell."

"I'm here for you, Elena. You and Dean."

"How long have we been gone?" She asked - her voice deadpan.

"About two months according to Sam."

"Sam, oh my god Sam. Is he alright?"

"He's alright, he's been working tirelessly to try and get you and Dean back. He was out of options, then he remembered me, and here I am." Using the strength I have left I raise myself from the floor but I end up gripping the nearest wall for support. "That spell took more out of me than I thought." Elena follows suit and rises, reaching out to help steady me.

"We need to get Dean." She closes her eyes and when she opens them a glaze of black has overrun her doe brown eyes. _What the hell._ "Send Astaroth to me _**now.**_ " Elena closes her eyes once more, when she opens them again they're back to their normal color.

"Astaroth? Also what the hell, Elena?" I exclaim grabbing her.

"What?" she asks furrowing her brow in confusion.

My eyes widen in disbelief, "Do you seriously not know what just happened?"

Immediately Elena's demeanor changes as she shakes my hand off of her, "I don't know what you mean."

"I think you know exactly what I mean. Your eyes went black, _demon_ black."

"It happens." Elena shrugs her shoulder and responds, clearly blowing it off. Before I can answer Dean appears out of nowhere.

"Elena - is everything okay?" he asks hurriedly rushing to her side. It takes him no longer than a fraction of a second to look past Elena to me. "Who is that?" Elena turns and extends her arm toward me, "Dean this is my best friend, Bonnie Bennett. She's here to take us home." Nervously I raise my hand and give Dean a half wave before lowering my hand back to its place at my side.

"Home?" he asks cautiously, "Like, no longer in Hell get to see my little brother again, home?"

"Yes."

"And Sam..?" Dean implores taking a small step toward me.

Reaching out I touch Dean's arm gently, "Sam is fine; he's the one who sent me. Now, let's get you home."

* * *

"Aperta . Aperi nobis et libera nos dimittere domum." The electricity from the incantation flows through me. "Aperta . Aperi nobis et libera nos dimittere domum." A gentle white light begins to glow and open in front of us, indicating it is time. Taking Elena and Dean's hands into mine I begin to step backward leading them toward the opening, "We're going home."

"No!" a familiar voice calls from behind me.

Swiveling my head around sharply I see someone I haven't in so long. "Grams..?" I question dropping Dean and Elena's hands. "What are you doing here of all places?"

"You shouldn't be here. You need to stay away from this sort of dark magic."

"They need me and I need them too!"

Suddenly my Grams is standing right in front of me. "They are _not_ your problem to solve. You need to go before they keep you here."

"No." I rebut shaking my head. "I'm not leaving them behind."

"Bonnie what's going on?" Elena questions from behind me.

"You can't take both of them with you Bonnie."

"I don't understand… what do you m-"

"You can't take them _both_. One of them is supposed to be here. One is not. You know who has to stay." In this exact moment I'm glad they can't see my face, glad they can't see the tears forming in my eyes. Grams reaches out her hand, gently stroking my cheek. "This magic is dark Bonnie, it's not natures plan. You can't do this again or the spirits with unleash their anger in ways that will make you suffer." By the time I blinked to clear the tears she was gone.

"Bonnie what is going on?" the question repeated. I could wipe my tears, but I don't bother, it doesn't change what I have to do, what I have to tell them. "It was my Grams." I answer as I turn back to face them. "Grams? What was she doing here?"

"Warning me, Elena. The magic I'm using is dark magic and the spirits aren't happy I've tapped into it."

"Then why are you crying?" Dean questions keeping his voice low.

My eyes shift to him, in that moment my eyes give away everything he needs to know and he nods solemnly.

Dean takes Elena's hands into his as he whispers her name, "Elena…"

"What… what aren't you two telling me?"

"I'm supposed to be here, you aren't. Bonnie can't save me."

"No. I'm not leaving without you Dean. I'm not doing it."

"Elena, baby." Dean murmured lifting his hand and stroking her face as gently as he could. "You need to go."

The white light behind us is slowly starting to fade, "Elena, we have to go." I tell her softly.

"No." Elena's voice foggy with emotion, tears welling in her eyes.

"You need to go; I need you to live, for me. Tell Sam it's okay - that I'm okay. You have to have to take care of him now, hell; you need to take care of each other. Be brave. I love you, Elena." Dean's voice shook as he spoke. "I will always love you."

"I love you…"

In one swift motion Dean pulls her into his arms, holding onto her for dear life. He pulls back and places his lips on hers softly.

"Go." He commanded as he let her go. Just like that, it was over.

Grabbing onto my sobbing, best friends arm I finish the spell, "Domus. "

And everything goes white.

* * *

**A/N: I can't wait to update again and can't wait to read your reviews  
xo**


	13. What's Eating Elena Gilbert?

**_A/N: Thank you all for being so patient! Don't think I don't notice all of you, because I love everyone who leaves comments on my story! Also I will eventually touch back on what happened to Elena in hell, some comments have mentioned that and it's all apart of the writing process just be patient and let the story unfold. For those of you here, enjoy!  
Don't forget to follow/favorite/review 3_ **

**_-xoAmanda_ **

* * *

_July 20, 2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_I used to think that the worse feeling in the world was losing someone you love, but I was wrong. The worst feeling is the moment that you realize that you've lost yourself. Which means for the rest of eternity I'm going to have a hole in my heart where he's supposed to be. I can't live with that._

"Elena."

The calling of my name breaks my concentration and I raise my eyes to meet Sam's. "Hmm?" I murmur in response.

"I think I found us a case. Multiple vic's found drained of blood in Muncie, Indiana." He explains as he hands over the case file.

The wallowing to my diary will have to wait. Shoving the capped end of the pen I was writing with into my mouth I grab the file from his hands and flip through it quickly.

"Vampires," Slapping the file shut I toss it back to him then swiftly swipe the pen from my lips. "Let's go then. I don't want to waste time and let more people die because of it."

He nods, turning on his heels and swiftly moves out the door. He knows I'm different but doesn't mention it to me, not after the first time. Once his footsteps have completely left my earshot my pen finds its way back to its place on the diary's pages once more.

_Sam tries, he really does, but it's not the same – not anymore. I'm not his brother, and he's not Dean. I've only been back a week but it feels like an eternity._

_I can't live an eternity without my soul mate._

* * *

_July 21, 2008_

_Muncie, Indiana_

"Sam, behind you!"

Hearing me just in time, he swings his blade, slicing the vampires head clean off.

_Three more._

My blade dances in my hand and I recall the feeling; it reminds me of hell. Well not exactly like hell, but hunting's a close second. The feeling wasn't necessarily bad, but I don't enjoy the emptiness it instilled in me; it makes me miss Dean. I have to push those thoughts back, repress them for now, they only distract me; and when I am fighting blood thirsty vamps, it only takes a second or two to lose my footing. Speaking of which, a vamp sweeps its leg through my stance and I quite literally lose my footing. I land flat on my back and have to struggle to catch my breath. I refocus my eyes and see the blood sucker stand over me; his breaths screamed of hunger.

"Is... Is that all you've got, big guy..." I manage to push out.

The vampire gives a slight cackle and lunges toward me.

More appropriately, he _attempts_ to lunge toward me. Probably would've actually been successful, but my new reflexes are too quick. I brandish my Colt .45, and plant two solid rounds into the vamps chest. It causes the vampire to stumble off of me. I push my hands on the ground above my head, and push myself to my feet. Before the vampire even had a chance to rebuttal the shots in its chest, I swiftly slice its head off at the shoulders.

I swipe my blade through the air, tossing what blood I could off of it. "Hey Sam! You finished ye-.."

I turn around to see Sam leaning up against a wall, with two corpses below his feet, "Been finished, just waiting for you."

I look at him, astonishment is clear in my voice, "You… You were watching this whole time?!"

Sam shook his head, "Not the whole time, Elena. Just as he knocked you on your ass."

"Thanks for the assist, Jackass."

"Didn't look like you needed one." He replies with a shrug.

* * *

_July 24, 2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_I dream about Dean almost every night, hell who am I kidding; it is every night. Do you know what it feels like to have half of you missing? Dean and I are like two pieces of a whole, and now that I'm here and he's not, I feel incomplete, always trying to fill the void that not having him leaves in me. It's exhausting but all I can do is keep moving forward, keep hunting, and try to stay alive._

_But is this really living?_

* * *

_July 26, 2008_

"I've got one in Phoenix, Arizona; looks like werewolves." I tell Sam as I flip the laptop around, shoving it in his direction.

He doesn't even bother to look up at me anymore; he just looks down at the screen, reads over the information, and nods. "I'll drive."

Reaching over I slam the laptop shut and yank it into my arms, "Great, let's go."

* * *

_July 27, 2008_

"How did the FBI get involved in this?" the Sheriff asked.

"This case matches a few similar cases we're tracking at the moment." I reply as I slip my fake badge back into my jacket pocket. "Are we going to have a problem here?"

The Sheriff shook his head,

"No, ma'am." He turned to grab the case files off his desk to hand them to us. "This is everything we have on what happened. Please let us know if you need anything else."

"We will." I respond while grabbing the file from his hands. I open it but before I start to thumb through, I realize he's still standing there. "You can go now."

"Right, right; I'm sorry. Let me know if you need anything."

I dismiss him with a wave of my hand and he quickly retreats from me.

Sam doesn't miss a beat, I can feel the disapproval radiating off of him from across the room.

"What the hell was that?" He whispers harshly as he approaches me.

"What the hell was what, _Agent Smith_?" I ask as fakely sweet as I possibly can; putting emphasis on his fake name.

His brow instantly furrows, grabbing me by the arm he pulls me into a corner away from everyone. "You're being a dick to the local law enforcement, we want them to help us, not hate us."

"That Sheriff was as spineless as they come, Sam." My eyes travel down to where his hand grips my arm then back up to meet his gaze, "Are you going to let me go or do I need to remove you myself?"

I can immediately see Sam's jaw clench tightly as he releases my arm.

"Thanks a million. Now let's go and find this werewolf shall we?" Turning on my heels I head toward the exit, not bothering to look to see if Sam is following me.

* * *

It's a pack of werewolves, lucky me - more things to kill. Every time my blade is in my hand I feel connected to Dean, to hell and it gives me the rush I need to get the job done. Casually I slice my blade through the empty air as I pace toward the wolf I'm facing.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" The she-wolf inquired.

"No, but this is." I don't even blink; I chuck my blade right at her stomach. It rips through her like butter as she wails out in pain the marbled handle protruding from her gut. A smirk dances on my lips at her pain.

"You bitch!" She snarls as she tears the blade from her abdomen throwing it to the ground.

I shrug, "I wont disagree with that."

Propelling myself forward I tuck myself in and roll to the ground, grabbing my blade in the process; I land on my feet easily. The wolf swings at me and I dodge it with no problem I counter with a right hook, upper cut combo finishing with a kick to the chest knocking her on her back, wind out of her chest with a thud.

"You're making this too easy for me. You made yourself vulnerable, you're weak and you deserve to die." I finish as I tower over her slipping my small silver knife from my pocket. "Aeshma always wins."

With one quick motion I slit her throat, the blood gurgles out from the line as she chokes on it.

"Elena?" the voice above me questioned hesitantly.

"What?" I respond, not bothering to look up from the she-wolf.

"Who is Aeshma?"

Shaking my head I enter back into the real world, "What?" I respond looking up at Sam.

Cautiously he steps forward, his gun still firmly in his hand. "Who is Aeshma?" he asked again.

"No one." I bite off, "It's nothing."

"That was a pretty violent death, even for a werewolf." Sam points out.

"Are you trying to critique my fighting style?" I question crossing my arms solidly over my chest.

He lowers his gun, sliding it back into his waistband. "I'm just saying you're different since you came back, Elena. You fight differently, you're sure as hell acting different, I don't know what to even think anymore; the old Elena wouldn't just kill like this."

"The old Elena died when she went to hell, Sam. You have no idea what I've been through."

"Because you won't talk about it! How am I supposed to help you or Dean when I-"

"Don't." I cut him off without hesitation,and started moving toward him aggressively, "Don't talk about Dean, not to me, not again; he's not coming back."

"But.." he began again.

"No!" This time I damn near growled it out, "That's the end of this discussion. If you want to continue to work together fine, but don't say his name again. Do you understand me?"

Sam's face was as hurt as I've ever seen it, but frankly I don't care. "Yeah, got it."

* * *

_July 30, 2008_

I don't even bother telling Sam this time, I just leave, taking the Impala with me. He's going to be pissed but I don't care, I want to do this alone. I drive to the small town of Highland, California blasting Dean's tapes the whole way there. _God your taste in music is so old,_ I chuckle to myself with a twinge of sadness. I stroke the steering wheel lovingly as I drive. The news reports in this town have been super weird as of late, people dying and their bodies looking like they were torn to shreds. The only logical explanation is a hellhound, which means a crossroad demon is there. I did the research before I left, the changes in weather seem to localize around a warehouse on the outskirts of town.

Pulling onto the dirt road makes the dust billow up behind me. My phone starts to go off; sliding it out of my pocket I check the screen – _Sam. Guess he finally figured out I'm gone._ Hitting the power button I ignore the call and shut it off. Reaching over I open the glove compartment and toss my phone inside because if I know Sam; and I do. He's going to keep calling or try to track my location, and I don't need him sticking his nose in this.

Baby rolls to a stop and I put her into park. I reach over and grab my gun from the passenger seat, running my hands over the marbled handle; a ritual of sorts. Opening the door I step out of the car slamming the door shut behind me. As quickly and quietly as I can, I jog up to the door of the warehouse cracking it open slightly. My eyes instantly go wide when I see what's inside, "Oh shit."

* * *

_July 31, 2008_

Everything on my body hurts to move. I got my ass handed to me, but at least I killed them all and made it out alive in once piece, sort of. I knew Sam wouldn't leave the hotel in Phoenix. One because I took the car and two because he wouldn't leave me, even if we aren't exactly getting along at the moment.

Hobbling up to the hotel door I slide my key into the lock, it beeps to let me know it's unlocked but before I can push it open the door is yanked open causing me to stumble right into the giant that is, Sam.

"Elena, what the fuck!"

"Easy Sam, don't damage the goods." I manage with a slight laugh that instantly made me wince.

Without hesitation he picks me up off my feet and gently sets me down on the bed. I don't even bother fighting him I'm too exhausted. "What happened to you?! You're beat to shit and haven't been answering my calls."

Slowly I reach up and rub the back of my neck, grunting with every movement. "I went to Cali, took out some Crossroad demons."

"By yourself?!"

"Obviously."

"You could've been killed Elena!"

"But I wasn't." I quip in response.

"But you could've been!" Sam runs his hands through his hair anxiously. He stops just for a moment then lowers himself to his knees in front of me. "Elena, you need to tell me what's going on here. I can't do this with you anymore, you're going to get yourself killed and what would Dean think of me then, huh?"

"Sam…"

He takes my hands into his, softly running his thumb over my skin. "You have to tell me."

I sit there for a moment and ponder everything that's happened the last few weeks, He's right, I'm not the same, and maybe he won't understand but I guess he needs to know anyway.

I sigh before beginning, "Dean and I we weren't just in hell. We ran it."

Sam shakes his head in mild disbelief, "You what?"

"Well not ran it, but ran a specific department."

"What department?"

"The torture one…"

"The what?" he asked his face expressionless.

Pulling my hands free from his I stand up and begin to pace, "Aeshma and Astaroth, those are our names down there. Mine means wrath and Dean's is crowned prince of hell."

"How did—just how?"

"It wasn't that way at first, we spent years fighting it, never picking up the blade but one day the option was made to us. Torture each other or torture other souls. Dean and I would never hurt each other so we did what we had to do but it changed us, at least it changed me – I can't speak for Dean."

"Changed you how?"

I open the fridge and grab an ice pack from the freezer, gently putting it against my ribs. "I think it made me a little less human? Down there when we would do our 'thing' our eyes would turn black, demon like, but up here it's like all my senses are heightened tenfold. I'm a more skilled fighter than I ever was and honestly I'm grateful but every time I pick up my blade I feel him with me. I feel somehow connected to him, like he's with me but I know it's all in my head."

Sam just sits there, silent for a moment before raising his eyes to meet mine. "We need to get Dean out of there."

"I don't know how Sam. Bonnie could only save me because I didn't belong there."

"I think the longer you're down there the more of yourself you lose. We need to get him back and fast. I'm not going to lose my brother and we're going to fix you, both of you."

"What if I don't want to be fixed." I ask with my head cocked slightly.

"Then you either need to tone it back, or you won't get a choice."


	14. I'm Not Doing Well Without You

****_A/N: Hello everyone. I know its been awhile but I'm really trying to get better about updating the story._  
So I know this chapter isn't super long but I hope it holds you over until the new one!  
xoAmanda 

* * *

_August 15, 2008_

" _You either need to tone it back, or you won't get a choice."_ I don't really tone it back, or change my attitude either. Not entirely.

"I'm not doing well without you, Dean." I whisper to him, not daring to turn my head because I know what I will see in his eyes. "I'm being reckless, dangerous, I'm going to get myself killed or Sam."

"I'm so sorry I'm not with you, Lena." Dean murmurs as he takes a sip of his drink. Instead of placing it down he swirls the caramel liquid in his glass then looks at me.

I know he is worried, "I'm just glad you're here now."

He sets down his glass and turns to face me, "I had to pull a lot of strings to reach out to you. It probably won't be able to happen again."

"I know, I honestly don't know how you managed it this time but I'm not going to complain. Should I tell Sam?"

"I wouldn't. You know how he can be, hope and all." Dean picks up his glass again, lifts it to his lips and finishes the drink. "I don't need him thinking that just because I reached out to you that I have found a way out of here."

"I still have hope, Dean." I tell him and outstretch my hand to his cheek. I stroke it gently with my thumb. "I'm never going to give up on you. I lov…"

"I know baby, me too." Dean grabs my hand and kisses my fingers lightly.

With a start, I wake from my sleep in the chair of the motel, my heart is beating out of my chest as I run my fingers through my hair to try and collect myself. Sam looks up from his laptop long enough to give me a ' _what the hell_ ' look before returning to the keys. Dean was right about one thing, I can't tell Sam. And as long as I can't tell Sam – I need to be alone.

* * *

_August 18, 2008_

I had to tell Sam I needed some time alone, he protested just like I thought he would but in the end he let me have my way. Typical Winchesters. He let me take Baby but only if I promised to keep her how Dean would've. Like I'd have it any other way. Promising to keep in touch, texts here and there just to make sure we were both still alive, I drove until I reached the opposite coast, California. Being alone actually seemed to be helping me take the edge off - or that's what I'm telling myself anyway. The ache in my chest has dulled since I got to see Dean, it's probably the booze but I'll take what I can get.

* * *

_September 2, 2008_

The moment I turn off the Impala and step onto the sun stricken pavement, the salt from the ocean hits my nose like a wave, no pun intended. Being in California has its upsides, the people watching being the best one, besides the alcohol of course. All the guys in flip flops and flat brimmed hats worn backward and women who think that a string bikini counts as actual clothing. But somehow in the middle of it all someone manages to stand out; the person I was looking for all along. Without letting Sam in on what I was doing when we were still together I had reached out to Bobby and asked him for some information, he delivered it, or so I hoped. I found a guy who deals in anything and everything, which is exactly what I needed right now. Making my way across the crowd of people I slide myself into the empty chair next to the guy. He looks at me inquisitively, rightfully so considering I'm a stranger to him and I just sat down beside him.

"You must be Travis." I purr at him softly.

He raises an eyebrow at me calling him by his name, "Depends on who's asking."

"I'm asking. I hear you deal with things in the realm of the supernatural."

"It's a possibility, like I said. Depends who's asking."

Leaning toward him I grab the front of his shirt and pull him directly in front of my face which causes his eyes to bug out of his head at the sharp gesture. "I already told you, I'm asking and that's all you need to know." I tell him, the previously sweet tone gone from my voice.

Travis raises his hands in a small, 'I give up' kind of way. "Alright, fine. What can I do for you?"

I release his shirt and push him back lightly. "I need a way to communicate with someone in hell. Can you do that or not."

"I think I might have just what you're looking for."

* * *

_September 6, 2008_

Being back in Mystic Falls feels like a dream, like I never even really lived here. I feel like my life really began when I met Dean and Sam, it feels so strange being here without them but I have something I need to do.

I call Jeremy and tell him I am in town but he is with Alaric working on something. He can't make it to see me. It's nice to hear his voice though - as much as I don't belong here, I miss my brother. Ending the call alters my destination back to the real reason I'm in town.

_Knock knock knock._

I slip my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket. The crisp September air was a colder than I had remembered from the years past. The glass on the door let me see a tuft of brown hair bobbing toward the door, my anxiety heightened causing my hands to dig a little bit deeper into my pockets. The lock disengages and the door swings inward leaving me face to face with the person who brought me back from hell just a few short months ago.

"Elena!" Bonnie exclaims in surprise. Reaching out toward me I take a step forward making it easier for her to pull me into the hug I know she so desperately wants.

"Hey Bon." One good thing about being pulled into this hug was that I didn't have to fake a smile to her face, yet.

She pulls back from the embrace and I plaster my smile onto my face.

"How are you? Why are you here? Where is Sam?" the questions bombarded me.

"I'm alright I suppose. Sam is on a hunt."

"That didn't answer the why you're here."

Absentmindedly, I comb my fingers through my hair. I've noticed that lately I've been doing that increasingly when I get anxious. "I need your help." I confessed to my magically inclined friend.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, "Help with what?"

"You brought me back from Hell. I need you to get Dean too."

"Elena, I told you before, I can't do that."

"Why? Because your _dead_ Grams said so?"

My words came out harsher than I intended them to but once they were out there, I couldn't take them back. It was like I literally slapped Bonnie across the face. She jerks away from me, the look of pure devastation on her face said it all.

"No, because he _belongs_ there." She spat back at me.

My heart sank at her words.

_He belongs there._

Bonnie's face softens instantly and she covers her mouth with her hands. "Elena I'm sorry that's not how I meant it- I just meant that—he just made his deal – oh god I'm so sorry."

I raise my hands up to stop her from continuing on, I know what she meant, but it didn't make it any easier to hear. Dean didn't belong there any more than I did and he wasn't going to stay there.

"If you can't help me get Dean out of Hell, there is something else you can help me with. I need some ingredients from this." I reach into the pocket of my jacket and pull out the paper Travis had given me with everything I needed handing it to my friend. "And I need them today..."


End file.
